Oh-Wheezers: November 2011

The Experiment Game

>> 30 November, 2011

It is natural for man to have a desire to question, acquire knowledge, seek the truth, and find the unknown. If we knew everything the moment we were born, then life would be boring.

Let's be thankful we didn't start that way but how does one find the answer? Through experiments.

What is an experiment? To define it without help from a dictionary, it means to gain numerous results through a trial and error procedure leading to a certain goal.

ExperimentGame.com is a simple but fun game of problem solving produced by Honda. It gives us the mindset on how to discover, and find the best solution to the problem.

Upon clicking Start, press the 'Go' button. Do not be alarmed to the massive number of pop-up windows. It's not a virus, though it was my initial assumption - based from experience :p

You may want to Login before starting level 1 (upper-right corner). Using the materials shown on the screen, drag the windows and place them on the correct sequence. Press the Play button to see if you got it correct. Yes, the materials will create a chain reaction.

Here's a preview of my favorite levels, from 3 to 6. No spoilers here :)

Level 3 - Cook the Egg

Level 4 - Blow the Bubble

Level 5 - Create Double Rainbow

Level 6 - Smash the Piggy bank

Sadly, there are only 6 levels but players can create their own and have it played by other users.

This is an awesome game but has a portion of levels to offer. The website isn't intended to be a big game-like experience (though I want it that way :p) instead, it pushes us to keep experimenting to gain new knowledge. We'll never know, we might be holding the key to change lives for the better :)

Doctor Who : Worlds in Time

>> 28 November, 2011

BBC Worldwide has published Doctor Who : Worlds in Time, a free to play, browser-based, massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMPORG) developed by San Francisco-based studio, Three Rings with popular games such as Spiral Knights, Puzzle Pirates, Whirled, Bang Howdy, Corpse Craft, and Bite Me. Three Rings is recently acquired by SEGA Holdings U.S.A. Inc.

Players will be able to control the TARDIS and follow the Doctor's footsteps, travelling through time and space, helping civilizations, meeting enemies, and friends as they solve puzzles, and complete challenges and quests.

Worlds of Time is set to be released in late 2011. For now, no one can register an account but be sure to sign-up by entering your email and wait for an invitation to confirm. I already received mine but everybody has to wait for its official release.

I bet we won't be playing as the Doctor, instead as a companion. As an MMPORG, customization of characters' features is enabled. I just do hope we have our own sonic screwdrivers and have it customized as well XD

Am I excited? Read my mind :)

Learn more about Doctor Who.

The Sonic Screwdriver

>> 27 November, 2011

Doctor Who's Sonic Screwdriver is a massive multi-functional sonic device that unlocks, loosens, and repairs things; and scans living and non-living things to name a few. It is also used as a defensive weapon but cannot be used to wound or kill any living things.


11th Doctor	10th Doctor	3rd Doctor	Future Sonic Screwdriver of River Song

Note: First and second images are in protracted form.

There are more versions of the sonic screwdrivers used by the past doctors but as for now, these are the ones available in the market.

What these babies looks like :)

And below is a video showing two Sonic Screwdrivers in action, both used by the 11th Doctor in the show's Series 5.

Cool!!!! XD

I will definitely but the 11th Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver and other items such as the shirt, bow tie, and the TARDIS mug but this will all have to wait 'cause I don't have the money right now, yeah FML!

Learn more about Doctor Who.

All mercandises are property of ThinkGeek.

Doctor Who

>> 26 November, 2011

Recently, I have watched Series 5 of Doctor Who. I immediately fell in-love with the show that after one episode, I cried real hard! It was damn good! I can't believe all this time, there's a show like this and I'm like, what have I've been doing all this time?! I'm late!

You might think this is the reason why I cried but it's not. The intense feeling is unexplainable! It's like, hey! I wanna be a Time Lord too or I wanna go on a journey with the doctor in his TARDIS! Take me now! NOW!!! :(

Anyway........ Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) where a centuries-old time-travelling Time Lord alien in human form from the planet Gallifrey, the last of his kind, explores the universe with his time machine called the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space), whose exterior looks like a blue police phone box.

Doctor Who's adventures, with his succession of companions, faces a variety of enemies while saving civilizations, helping people, and right wrongs.

Doctor Who is listed in the Guinness World Records as the longest-running science fiction television show in the world with over 780 episodes (still rising), 26 seasons, and 6 series (still rising).

Currently, the Doctor has been played by eleven actors. Time Lords have the ability to regenerate themselves when they reach a "near to death" injury. He is completely repaired but in doing so, changes his physical appearance, and personality. In The Deadly Assassin, a 1976 episode, it is revealed that Time Lords can regenerate 12 times, equivalent to 13 incarnations before permanently dying. In the current series, this is the Doctor's 10th regeneration, 11th incarnation.

Below is the list of actors who played The Doctor:


William Hartnell First Doctor November 1963 October 1966	Patrick Troughton Second Doctor October 1966 June 1969	Jon Pertwee Third Doctor January 1970 June 1974	Tom Baker Fourth Doctor June 1974 March 1981

Peter Davison Fifth Doctor March 1981 March 1984	Colin Baker Sixth Doctor March 1984 December 1986	Sylvester McCoy Seventh Doctor September 1987 December 1989	Paul McGann Eight Doctor May 1996

Christopher Eccleston Ninth Doctor March 2005 June 2005	David Tennant Tenth Doctor June 2005 January 2010	Matt Smith Eleventh Doctor January 2010 present

Doctor Who originally ran from 1963 to 1989 (26 seasons). It got suspended because its 1980s performance (6th and 7th Doctor) with three to five million viewers were seen poor at that time. On 1996, the 8th Doctor made his first television appearance in a television movie. It didn't spark for a new television series but various licensed media namely: BBC Books' Eighth Doctor Adventures novels, audio plays from Big Finish Productions, and the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip gave life to the 8th doctor for nine years before the release of the television series of the 9th Doctor on 2005 (Series 1).

Doctor Who is just extreme awesomeness! Hopefully I could watch old episodes to further lengthen my knowledge about Doctor Who. I truly enjoy watching this :)

Now what should I do to the crack on my wall XD

The Snowflake and Bubble Spectacular

>> 25 November, 2011

The Snowflake and Bubble Spectacular of Saks Fifth Avenue at New York City is an amazing visual 3D holiday window projection this Christmas 2011. It shows eye-popping design of bubbles, snowflakes, pipes, and windows.

The moment the clock reaches zero, expect to be amazed!

The light show is developed in partnership with marketing firm, Iris, who also made stunning projections at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and 2010 World Cup.

I wish I could see this up-close and just admire everything. I might get chills! Like come on, who wouldn't want to see those glowing windows, and moving pipes XD

A Very Gaga Thanksgiving

>> 24 November, 2011

Lady Gaga welcomes us for her Special Thanksgiving show and opens the first number with Tony Bennett singing, Lady is a Tramp in-front of her family, and friends. The lively, jazz, and amazingly inviting song gives us the ambiance of a Thanksgiving spirit.

Later, we see Gaga back at her alma-mater, Sacred Heart Catholic School in Manhattan where she was joined by kids creating art, followed by a performance of Born This Way with a matching dance number.

A heartfelt performance is always present whenever Lady Gaga plays the piano to which I truly felt when she sang You and I and Edge of Glory. The latter was dedicated to her grandfather and was made while he was dying.

Surprisingly, there was a mini cooking show with Gaga and Chef Art Smith where they create a family recipe. Gaga was having a bit of a hard time cooking because of the fancy clothes she was wearing. I was relieved when she took off her yellow couture. Oh and she knows how to cook 'cause the way she took out the fork from the bowl and broke the eggs is flawless.

Later, out in a balcony-like atmosphere, she went jazz from her rendition of White Christmas to which for her, was a great song with one verse so she decided to add another. It fitted, and flowed really well as if it was part of the original lyrics. After that, she sang her rendition of Orange Colored Sky.

One of Gaga's song called Hair is by far the most requested song by fans to be out in the market but it still doesn't have a music video. Fans have a lot to thank this holiday for she sang it while playing the piano. During her performance, she puts on a wig. This means a lot :)

The last song Gaga sang was Bad Romance where she engaged her performance by walking and dancing around the floor and just dazzled her entire family. Nearing the end of the song, she was eating something while singing. I don't know what that is but it was hilarious!

Later, Gaga was interviewed by Katie Couric about working with Tony Bennett, her songs, how family is important, having a family of her own, and what she was thankful for this Thanksgiving. I just wished it was more longer although this was a show for the holiday, keeping it short is indeed appropriate.

I thought the music video of Marry The Night will be out this evening but only a sneak preview was seen.

The show ended by Gaga thanking us for joining her. She is then seen walking down a huge spiral staircase wearing a red dress. She takes off her brobdingnagian hat and joins her family who are seen in silhouettes. The door closes.

I really enjoyed watching 'A Very Gaga Thanksgiving' because it's close to the heart, and has a deep connection with family. All the eight songs has a moment with her. Everything is just radiant! This concert-like show is truly made for the holiday. Happy Thanksgiving everybody :)

The Imaginary Friends and Rick

>> 23 November, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving! :)

...right. Not the most original line I could think of so maybe I should start this entry by saying "Gobble, Gobble!" XD

This is my first Thanksgiving. Not sure how to celebrate the day but I do know it's like All Souls Day slash Christmas slash New Year in the Philippines where the whole family is reunited, the only difference is the thanking, 'cause back there, it is felt not said.

Now, I really want to make this entry worthwhile since yeah, it's Thanksgiving, duh! XD I thought of blogging fail videos about cooking a turkey or the history of Thanksgiving or about people camping for Black Friday that spells S-A-L-E or maybe a quick review of The Middle, Suburgatory and Modern Family's Thanksgiving episodes.

But I found something much better. It's a video showing a part of Macy's Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade 2008 at New York City. There was a float filled with the characters of one of my favorite cartoon series called "Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends", they were happily entertaining the crowd when suddenly....

Hahahaha! This is really funny but my jaw dropped all the way to the center of the earth XD This is the biggest rick roll ever! To those who didn't get it then you just missed one of the earliest Internet memes in the world XD

Anyway, I wish everybody a happy, happy, happy Thanksgiving! I mean, Gobble, Gobble! :)

Movie Review : Summer Wars (2009)

>> 22 November, 2011

Summer Wars is introduced with an interactive virtual reality world called OZ, it allows us to connect with each other online. One of its main priorities is communication for its importance dissolves the bridges from people worldwide.

Users create a profile with distinct personalized avatars that can be used to play games, shop online, and send email and text messages.

OZ provides support services for businesses and corporations throughout the world. Moreover, agencies, and local governments links to the network to help people with tasks such as paying taxes, and filing documents. Thus, OZ promises protection to users' personal information with their advanced security system.

Meanwhile, in the real world, two of OZ's part-time system maintenance moderators in Japan, Kenji Koiso, an eleventh-grade math genius, and close friend Takashi Sakuma were disturbed by twelfth-grade student Natsuki Shinohara. She asks if one of them would want a simple part-time job with her going to Ueda City in Nagano. Kenji gets to go with her.

Upon arrival at Ueda, Kenji realizes that Natsuki is taking him to her estate for a big family reunion to celebrate her great-grandmother, Sakae Jinnouchi's 90th birthday. What he didn't expect was he was introduced to Sakae as his boyfriend. This was in fact, was the part-time job Natsuki was referring to. Kenji didn't want any part of this but played along to Natsuki's plan.

At dinner, the whole family was happy to see Natsuki's "boyfriend". Kenji is happy but uncomfortable for he is not used to a big family gathering, and to top that, faking to be a boyfriend was too much.

Just in the middle of dinner, an unexpected guest arrives. It was Natsuki's half-granduncle, Wabisuke Jinnouchi, whom Sakae have had adopted. Wabisuke is sardonic and has a bad reputation to the family. He came back from America for Sakae's birthday. As expected, he was not accepted in the household except for Natsuki and Sakae.

Early in the morning, Kenji woke up receiving an email with a mathematical code with 2,056 digits in it. Being a math genius himself, he feels challenged, got up, wrote down the numbers, and finally cracks it. It says, "the magic words are squeamish ossifrage To know is to know that you know nothing That is the true meaning of knowledge".

Later he found out on the news that OZ was hacked. A picture was shown with his eyes covered, thus, putting the blame on him. Someone has stolen his account.

The entire society depends on OZ accounts. Fire alarms going crazy, traffic lights not dependable, email and text services not working, bus and train routes got scrambled, and more! It caused widespread damage!

It is later identified that the hacker is an artificial intelligence called "Love Machine" who is built for thirst for knowledge and literally devours accounts to make him stronger.

With all the chaos happening at OZ, how will Kenji clear his name? Can the damage be undone? Will Natsuki's family help? What will happen to Sakae's 90th birthday?

Yup, watch the movie :)

I love Summer Wars a lot because it's about the Jinnouchi family ties, their closeness, and support to one another. Their homeland has rich history from their ancestors which is hugely reflected to their way of life, and thinking.

The movie is not all about the virtual world of OZ although the interaction of the users, mainly the Jinnouchi family to the virtual world helps bring peace to the society.

The film doesn't want the virtual nor the reality world to overshadow each other. The film clearly has shown the best of both worlds. OZ has an amazing set of playful colors for our eyes to feast on, moreover, has unique avatars interacting with each other. Its existence to us is highly dependable. Meanwhile, in the real world, we see a family who works as a team, shows family values, and fights their way through at tough times.

[GEEK SPEAK]

Sorry to do this but let me be geeky in this paragraph... The first part of the mathematical code Kenji solves was "The Magic Words are Squeamish Ossifrage" which was the solution to a challenge cipher text posed by the inventors of the RSA cipher in 1977 (solved in 1993-1994); And the other half "To know is to know that you know nothing That is the true meaning of knowledge" is a Confucius quote. Although the word 'true' should be in-front of the word 'knowledge'.

[/GEEK SPEAK]

Now is this the future of social networking? I do not have an idea but it does seem convincing. Whatever the future holds for the online community, we'll know in the days to come.

Summer Wars is indeed a family-oriented movie with a mixture of the virtual world. A truly unique story everybody will love :)

Rating: 5/5