Chasing Daydreams

Batman: Arkham Asylum is the the said to be the best superhero computer game so far. And I can see why.  In the game, Batman must fight Joker and his henchmen who have taken over the Arkham Asylum. This is not an easy task since Batman is one of the few  superheroes who don’t have superpowers. Instead, he relies on wits, stealth, his excellent martial art skills. And of course, it wouldn’t be complete without the utility belt and its plethora of gadgets. There’s the ever-present Batarang, grappling-hook gun, explosive gel gun, Bat-Claw, Ultra Bat-Claw (3 Bat-Claws), and Zip-line Thrower. Using all these in combination is required for your to succeed in the game.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is a stealth game. And in almost all cases, you really have to be stealthy. Rushing into a room with guns blazing punching and kicking might work for unarmed henchmen. But just wait till you encounter those with guns, and you’ll be stopped cold in seconds, literally. Or till you encounter some of the big drug-infused brutes who can quickly crush you. And this is actually leads to one of the funnest aspects of the game as your lurk in the shadows, stalking the enemy taking them from behind, plucking them or swooping down on them from above. And if a fight really cannot be avoided, you have to use your wits,  your gadgets, and the environment to win it. This applies even to bosses such as Bane, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, The Scarecrow, and the Joker.

Experience, which is gained by defeating enemies and solving puzzles, give Batman upgrades for his fighting skills and gadgets. Things that definitely make things just a bit easier. To supposedly add to the fun factor and experience, dispersed throughout the game are puzzles left by the Riddler and Amadeus Arkham that you can solve if you choose to. They probably can help getting more experience, and therefore upgrades, at the higher difficulty levels. Or maybe for gathering trophies, if you’re into that. But to me, they seemed to be too much of a bother and I didn’t really make an effort to solve them.

Although the game does not follow the alternate Batman universe of Batman Begins and Dark Knight, it is sufficiently dark and moody as a Batman product should rightfully be. And most importantly, it is fun!

Rating: 4/5

I’ve updated my top S60 applications from its previous incarnation.

1. Walking Hotspot – Turns your phone into a wireless router and share your HSDPA signal (if you get one).  I found it easier to use than Joikuspot
2. Opera Mobile – A niftier mobile browser than even Opera Mobile. It is standalone so it requires more memory and processing power. Can match any desktop browser in handling complex websites.
3. Fring – reach out and talk to your friend via you can interact with friends on all your favourite social networks Skype, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, SIP, Twitter, Yahoo!, AIM, and more!
4. YouTube – Watch YouTube videos on your mobile phone. You need a fast network connection though.
5. Google Maps – Turns your phone into a navigation device complete with map. It even shows your location with GPS or without (via cell site)! How cool is that?
6. Nokia Messaging for Email - You can configure your email to check Ovi Mail, Yahoo Mail, GMail, HotMail, and  POP, and IMAP. And you can view your email in HTML glory!
7. Google Sync plus Mail for Exchange – allows you to sync your Google contacts and calendar with your phone contacts and calendar. No tasks syncing, unfortunately.

We encountered some text that was breaking at the wrong place in our Flex application. Using   didn’t work at all. After a bit of puzzling and searching, we found the answer. Instead of   we should use  . It worked!

I needed to quickly roll out a small security framework for an app at work. Since it’s a security framework, it must have at the minimum:

• User Management – add/edit/delete users for administrators and change password for users.
• Authentication – establish identity of a user by getting user credentials typically via a login page.
• Authorization – establish if an authenticated user is allowed access to a resource.

For user management, I cheated and decided to have ActiveDirectory handle it. System administrator can add/edit/delete users using Windows admin console and users can change their passwords via ctrl+alt+delete.

For authentication, I made login.jsp and loginhandler.jsp. loginhandler.jsp uses authenticates against ActiveDirectory and, when authenticated, forwards the user to the previously requested URI. This URI was saved by the authorization filter.

Ahmed Hammad provided the reference code for authenticating against an ActiveDirectory server.

For the authorization check. Every time a user accesses a certain resource, we check if he is allowed access to that resource’s URI. If he is authorized, he is allowed to continue on to the resource.

Michael Klaene provided the reference code for the authorization filter.

And that was all there is to it.

Next, I’m thinking of using j_security_check if it has no platform-dependency issues.

Jeanne, Michelle, and I went to Clark for some sunbathing today. Okay, so we we’re not really there just for the sun. We went to the 2010 Clark Hot Air Balloon Festival. The balloons were scheduled to fly early so we left the house early since we wouldn’t want to miss the highlight of the show.

After two hours travel, got there just as the balloons were already taking off! The road was congested with cars heading to the show so we decided to hastily stop and park by a side service road. We watched and took pictures as the balloons flew up, farther and farther. We also soaked up the sun which was just coming up. Sunbathing in Clark!

That was the best part of the show. Once the balloons were gone and the traffic thinned down somewhat, we proceeded to the show venue only to encounter traffic congestion and chaotic parking. But we eventually found a spot. Next, we had to contend with long ticket lines. They only had one booth and the queue was snaking around already. I lined up and after a lot of slow shuffling forward, paid P300 for two tickets.

In the show venue, there were various military and civilian displays as well as food and shopping stalls. But what struck me was that it was so crowded! There were people taking pictures, posing for photos, eating, shopping, flying kites (lots of kites!), and just milling around. And it was getting hot as midday approached. For some, it could be a fun and festive carnival atmosphere. To me, it just wasn’t.

I convince Michelle to make a quick exit and head to the duty free shops. After an inadvertently prolonged side visit to the bank– Jeanne fed– we got to the duty free area just in time for lunch. The problem is that we couldn’t find any good place to have lunch at. We decided to just forgo duty free shopping altogether and just go back to SM Clark for lunch.

At SM, we met up with Khae who happened to be in Angeles City for lunch at Xtremely Xpresso. Reasonably good food and good espresso. I think they use Lavazza based on the cans of coffee grounds I saw on display. A good ending to our Clark visit.

Michelle surprised me with a copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum aka Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth graphic novel for my birthday. That was awesome because aside from being an avid Batman fan (e.g. see this and this), I was also planning to buy and play the PS3 game of the same title. So reading the graphic novel would be a good start. I was about to open and read it when she sprung her second birthday surprise, Batman: Arkham Asylum the PS3 game! What more can you ask for? Thanks, babe! You sure know how to choose a birthday gift. I love you!

Finally, finished playing Metal Gear Solid 4. This is the 4th and, supposedly, final installment of the Metal Gear series and it sure climaxes with a big bang. The games ties up the story lines of the  previous games together, including any loose ends. I was only able to play Metal Gear Solid from the series.

Luckily, it was the game whose story line is most heavily referenced. Even the bosses are paralleled between the two games. Because of this, events seemed familiar as they unfolded.  This doesn’t mean the storyline is any clearer. There’s something about Japanese story lines that make them convoluted and, sometimes, even incomprehensible.

But that’s how it is. And if you can get past that, you have the hugely entertaining gameplay to enjoy. There are elements of a stealth game, a shoot ‘em up game, a shooter on rails (on an APC and on a motorbike), a simulator (of the REX mech),  a fighting game, and a full movie! There’s even an online multiplayer game. And all that with graphics and audio that shames even newer games.

I just have one minor quibble, and that is Snake can carry a whole arsenal of weapons in his pocket. He can even buy more weapons and unlimited ammunition in the heat of battle! Not too realistic, but that’s never the intent of the developers. Their intention is for players to have fun and in that, they deliver. Definitely one of the best games on the PS3 and one that needs to be on your collection.

Rating: 5/5