28 June 2014

Ares Defense Shrike 5.56mm



My preferred weapon in Battlefield 4 is the AWS, which is actually the Ares Defense Shrike 5.56mm which is a weapon that I have not heard of despite having extensively read up on small arms over the last two decades. It is most curious. I do wonder as to the production numbers and the users of this light machine gun.

The Ares Defense Shrike appears to be a gas piston-operated machine gun with M16 furniture. How does it fare in real life? The reliability? The operation? The accuracy?

In terms of gameplay, the weapon has very little recoil and is highly usable. The youtube phenomena, Levelcap, has labelled it as the best light machine gun in Battlefield 4. I can see why he has judged so.

Of Suarez and his punishment

The punishment of a ban of four months given to Suarez appears to be rather light in view of his repeated offences. One would think that the punishment would be of an escalatory nature, thus resulting in a far longer sentence.

Oh well, a player of such ability with such control of the ball appear to lack control of his emotions and his mouth. He appears absolutely unrepentant too.

However, a more severe backlash would be his loss of sponsors. A gambling firm has pulled out. I wonder if it will result in a flood of the loss of them, if he has them. I guess he can depend on Uruguayan firms for his sponsorship now.

Laying down a curtain of fire with light machine guns


I clearly can't match people and aimbots in 'gun and run' matches, so, I would usually take a LMG, unfold the bipod and lay down a curtain of fire in a choke point and attempt to get as many kills as possible. It can work well at times.
I doubt if my improvement in accuracy and speed in movement would improve dramatically with more practice. My improvement would also need to improve as would the need to flank enemies. Thus, I will play to my strengths and minimise my exposure to scenarios that show up my weaknesses.

I think in this iteration of Battlefield, there are more people with aimbots. There are also very good players around who have played 500 hours or more and are phenomenal. It is hard to tell.

26 June 2014

Japanese Type 95 Light Tank Evaluation

Accepting anecdotal stories, hearsay and cherry-picked data


"The more we teach people to simply accept anecdotal stories, hearsay, cherry-picked data (picking out what supports your claims but ignoring what doesn't), and, frankly, out-and-out lies, the harder it gets for people to think clearly. If you cannot think clearly, you cannot function as a human being. I cannot stress this enough. Uncritical thinking is tearing this world to pieces, and while astrology may not be at the heart of that, it has its role."
Quote from Phil Plait

25 June 2014

Proceedings

Asian, African and European teams are all getting knocked out leaving only those from the Americas. There are only precious few European teams left, challenging for the World Cup.

It does appear that Brazil will lift the trophy.

Suarez bites!

Suarez could audition for the role of Jaws in an upcoming Bond movie if they should resurrect that role. Haha.

A headline spotted on Soccernet:

"Uruguay bite back against Italy"

Hahahaha, hilarious!

Steam Summer sales

The Steam Summer sales is here again. This time round, there is precious little that I want. I looked at the sale list earlier. No, nothing.

Pasta Chiellini

Seen in a comment on BBC:
"Suarez completes his 3-course meal with a Pasta Chiellini"...

Italy, England, Spain out.

Ooooh, Italy is out.

As is Spain and England. The European teams are falling by the wayside in the Americas again.

Surprisingly, Greece is through. Astonishing.

18 June 2014

World War II Aircraft Identification Quiz 2

This quiz tests your ability to identify Second World War aircraft. The quiz has been geared towards the enthusiast and will be difficult for the layperson. For the enthusiast, this should prove relatively easy. The quiz will include any aircraft that existed in between 1937 to 1945 including experimental types that were first flown during that period but put in production later. I hope you will have as much fun with it as I did creating it. Enjoy the quiz!

16 June 2014

Aircraft Identification Quiz - Postwar

Here is another aircraft identification quiz that I have created. It is focused on postwar aircraft. It should be relatively easy for the aviation enthusiast and difficult for the layperson. If you have an interest in aviation, do give this a try.

http://www.playbuzz.com/chuangc10/aircraft-identification
Oh well.

Thoughts on the current World Cup

Many pundits have predicted a Brazil-Argentina final. I wouldn't be surprised if it ended that way with Brazil winning.

As for Brazilian players diving, we have witnessed it time and again and because their players are skilful and have flair, people are willing to overlook their transgressions. Meanwhile, players from other nations who resort to such measures would have been roundly condemned. Two standards, one for Brazilians and one for everyone else.

New direction

In the last fortnight, I have been finishing on artwork left over from the early months of this year, as such, I have completed six or seven complex pieces. There is only one piece or so to go, after which, I will chart a new direction. I will also continue with some of what I am doing.

World Cup matches

I have not watched any of the World Cup matches. On Sunday morning, I did see a few minutes of the Japan-Ivory Coast match on TV.

I can't summon the enthusiasm for it this time. In any case, Brazil being crowned champions appear to be a foregone conclusion, the matches are a formality.

15 June 2014

14 June 2014

Charming

My Sweetie is charming!

Spain vs the Netherlands

The result came as a complete surprise. I am still somewhat sceptical as to the Dutch team winning the World Cup. This is just one result in a long campaign. The Dutch may have peaked too early.

All that Spanish possession, about 64%, appeared to have amounted to little in this match.
Bowling last night was great fun with Sweetie! Wheeeeeeeeee! Sadly, we didn't manage to play Daytona.

Amazon

I am not worried about Amazon despite some publishers and writers decrying their policies. Despite Amazon's seemingly bullying tactics towards suppliers, and their seemingly monopolistic position, they have not raised prices. Their low prices benefit the consumers. They get a better deal for customers.

In future, if they were to try to raise prices after crushing all opposition, they will only open themselves to new players to come in with better prices. I am not worried about Amazon.

With regards to writers claiming that they are affected, yes, they need to negotiate a better deal with the publishers, that is between them and their publishers, not the bookseller like Amazon.

Yes, I am buying truckloads from Amazon these days since brick and mortar booksellers do not meet my needs with their limited selection nor their prices.

13 June 2014

Favourites of World Cup 2014

I think Brazil is the overwhelming favourite to lift the world cup. I don't gamble and I don't know what odds the bookmakers are giving I expect them to be accurate since it is their lifeline or trade here.

In addition, I suspect that Brazil will have the officials favouring them since they are the host nation.
Sweetie and I witnessed a magnificent sunset over Marina Bay on Saturday evening. It was a perfect day, a day of viewing dinosaur exhibits and finally exploration of food at a buffet, my first real one in a long time!

Brazil vs Croatia

I did not watch the Brazil-Croatia match but I did expect the officials to favour the host nations, much like how they had favoured South Korea during the South Korea-Japan world cup years ago. It came as no surprise when I hear that a dubious penalty had been awarded to Brazil in the match at dawn.

12 June 2014

Old railway station at Tanjong Pagar







I have visited the old railway station at Tanjong Pagar twice. I had the opportunity to take the train but I declined. I took photos then and last year.

09 June 2014

Of the TYT programme and buffet

Over the weekend, my beloved Sweetie instituted a TYT programme for me which we began by going to a buffet at Todai! Hahaha!

DVDs

From the looks of it, I would have to acquire the DVDs for Zero Theorem, Grand Budapest Hotel and Lone Survivor, having missed these at the cinema.

I will put that on my 'to watch' list.

07 June 2014

Edge of Tomorrow


I watched Edge of Tomorrow with my Sweetie last night. Wheeeeeeeee!

05 June 2014

Of time wasting and debates

I found this quote on a forum.

 "Just because some jackass asserts a thing does not mean that it is worthy of refutation. If the same guy tells you that every space shuttle launch perturbs the Earth's orbit, and that the cumulative effects are just about to start the process of the loss of the atmosphere into space, thus creating a vacuum that will destroy all life on the planet in approximately 36 hours, would you deem this necessary to refute? How much time would you spend explaining to him why this cannot happen? Would not your time be spent better doing other things? And if you devise a concise explanation, why would you assume he would understand?"

This is the reason why I don't bother to debate the likes of certain folks. This person sums it up well.
I am seeing Sweetie tonight! WOO!

Counting down

Twelve more hours to Battlefield 4! Counting down.

02 June 2014

Sweetie and I enjoyed ourselves over the weekend. It was tremendous fun, and we would have to do it again. Wheeeee!