Knight Rider 2008 S01E13

Growing up with Knight Rider when I was a kid, I was a bit disappointed with the revival of the series. It seemed as if the people working on this new show were relying too much  on sexy women and outrageous technology to keep the audience coming back. But after 12 episodes, it is nice to finally see one with excellent storytelling. (The KAR storyline was really a big disappointment, and they even used the voice of Optimus Prime in the Transformers movie).

So what makes show 13 special? Shouldn’t 13 be unlucky? Not in this case. This was one of the fast paced episodes in the entire series, and it was filled with a lot of action too. The way the scenes were shot and kept weaving out of the crime scene and into Knight Industries HQ was cool.

I also think that a trimmed down cast will actually be better for the show (and perhaps for the producers since everyone is affected by the slow down in the economy). The original series only had David Hasselhoff, with two supporting actors (the mechanic and her dad). I was wondering why they needed so many actors when the series was beginning. Perhaps they were testing which ones would appeal to the audience and the 3 supporting actors they have right now are fine. (Maybe they should distinguish the roles a bit though, but I guess they kept Zoe so that Billy would have a partner… and the two arguing would be instrumental to the comedy in the show.)

I remember the first episode of the series where they kept reusing the same building hallway over and over, making the audience think it was a series of hallways, but it just didn’t work. At least in episode 13, props and location were taken up a notch. From the bad guys outfits, to the sewer chase scenes, as a viewer of the show, I really appreciate the detail placed into this.

This episode really shows that they did a lot of work. Even if it was fast paced, the crew must have shot tons of takes just to place those short, but essential parts of the episode (KITT driving to the hospital, the phone conversation with Maddie, the arrival of the SWAT team). The crew could have taken the easy way out by having the actors say “the SWAT have arrived outside”, or “we called Maddie and she didn’t say her father was a pilot”, but instead, these parts were included.

I still like the tech they showcase such as surface computing, holographic projection, and replication, but sometimes, I really wonder which parts are fact and which are fiction. Still, if they are going to show us new trends in  tech, add some realism to it. A video of the genius dad playing would be more realistic, albeit boring, than a holographic projection. But Knight Rider is about the here and now, not the future ala Star Trek TNG.

Overall, one of the best episodes, if not the best of this franchise revival. Keep up the good work.

Ashamed

A Filipino Missionary was trying to share Jesus Christ to a foreigner from a rich country. After much talk, the foreigner exclaimed, “How can you say Jesus is the answer to my problems when I look at you Filipinos who are so poor!”

Does this mean that if we are poor, we should be ashamed to share the gospel? Jesus, despite being God, chose to be born to a poor carpenter’s family. Some of his disciples like Peter and John were fishermen.

But God uses the rich as his evangelists too. Abraham and Job owed plenty of land and livestock, perhaps comparable to modern day millionaires of our time. David and Solomon were Kings, comparable to present day royalty.

Sometimes, the best witnesses are those whose lives were changed by Christ’s love and forgiveness, … former prisoners, guilty of different crimes, broken families, made whole once more, hedonists who turned their lives over in service to Jesus.

So the next time someone puts you down for sharing Jesus Christ, don’t sweat it. Some seeds will end up in rocks, weeds and thorns while others will multiply a million fold. Remember the parable of the mustard seed and simply obey Christ by sowing diligently. People can only tell people about Christ. It is Christ who brings about change in people. And having Christ in your life really helps ease the burden of living.

Jesus said:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

Ikariam 0.3.0 Adjustments

After the 0.3.0 patch was applied on January 20, 2009, I had to sacrifice many of my high level buildings to adjust to the new environment. I have been sacrificing my trading posts, workshops, and embassies in order to open up new slots for building construction. Add the vacant building spot from researching Bureaucracy and you have 4 slots to play with. (Note: Some players recommend maintaining at least one workshop in your crystal colony, one trading post and one embassy if you are a member of an alliance… and being an alliance leader is kind of a disadvantage when it comes to testing out the new buildings ^_^).

Some recommend retaining only 1 barracks, but for me, a barracks is essential in all towns you own for the deployment of land troops. Even if you have multiple colonies on the same island, you will still need a barracks for you to be able to station your troops from one town to the other. So destroying my barracks in my towns would be a no-no.

Others recommend destroying academies. I would do that if I was absolutely sure that there would be no further researches needed in this game. But 0.3.0 has shown us that there are, and if developers come up with 0.4.0, I’m sure keeping my academies will pay-off. Besides, Scientists and Researches are two of the top score ranking categories so it pays to retain your academies if you are highly ranked in these areas.

Finally, I’ve read on the boards that others are recommending destroying the Hideout. Again, from my experience, having Hideouts is very important, especially during times of alliance wars. Your spies are essential to both good offense and defense. Knowledge is power ^_^.

I’ve been contemplating destroying my museums and going for high level taverns only to maintain the satisfaction of my towns. Guess I’ll only do this if I reach the point where I can no longer build up the tavern, and i see that it can sustain the population at a level where my gold upkeep is still positive (with a surplus necessary for pillaging).

I already have 6 towns and I’m sure that going for my 7th would be a lot easier compared to version 0.2.8 or earlier. But I see that going for an 8th town or more would be a problem since I’m unwilling to sacrifice many buildings that I consider essential. I read somewhere that you could go for a 10th town if all available town slots were used for warehouses. In theory, it would be possible, but if word leaked out that that town was being pilled up with resources, and there was no barracks to protect it, no hideout to safeguard warehouse information… I’m sure many players would attempt to crack that safe even if your whole navy was stationed there ^_^.

If ever I go for an 8th colony, it would be nice if I could construct all building types in one town for reducing costs… Architect’s Office, Carpentry, Firework Test Area, Optician, and Wine Cellars. I’m sure many players immediately went for Wine Cellars since the wine requirement for towns has roughly doubled. So what other buildings would you build? Some prefer the buildings which increase resource production, but if you’re the stage where high level players are, the cost reductions might be an answer to the warehouse limitations.

Pillaging has been fun for me since I haven’t been on the receiving end. I’ve been on the test server and I know how it feels to be looted of all my resources. All I did on that server was build multiple warehouses and it was not fun at all. But it is a working strategy for survival when you have no army built yet. I’d recommend this strategy for new players and once they are able to build up a capable military force, then maybe they can sacrifice their warehouses for the other structures.

I know that there are 2 sides to every story, and I’ve been reading some comments from dissatisfied players but overall, I give this update a thumbs up. It is an update that favors the players who’ve built up their military and a reward for players who have been playing the game for a long time and need a breath of fresh air.

Hoping 0.4.0 will be just as good, if not better.

Conficker

Had a tough time today removing the Conficker.A and Conficker.B worms that infected my system. The following Microsoft Article proved useful.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/962007

So after saving a copy of the KB article on my PC, updating my anti-virus software and getting the necessary downloads from Microsoft, I disconnected my system from the Internet and got busy.

Running a full system scan using the Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) took almost 3 hours. The security patch WindowsXP-KB958644-x86-ENU.exe at least only took a few minutes. Then running a full system scan with AVG took another 3 hours.

I was curious about the manual removal (In the event that I couldn’t access the removal tool) and I tried it out. It assumes that the person is comfortable working with the registry, services, group policies and the command prompt. If one is ok with these, then by all means, try it out. Playing with the registry though can really mess up your operating system so make the necessary precautions such as backing up important files, and creating restore points before venturing further.

I really hope that’s the last I’ll see of Conficker, AKA Downadup. I’d really hate to have to do a clean install of the OS.

Camping at Silang

Just got back from a two-day camping event at Silang, Cavite. The area is near kilometer 48. There were about 8 tents setup on the camping grounds when we arrived.  Six of us arrived last Friday evening while the rest arrived on Saturday morning.

The camp’s theme revolved around one’s passion. God gives all of us personalities, abilities, spiritual gifts and circumstances that draw out our passion … something I would personally describe as one’s calling in life. While all Christians are called to be servants of the Lord, each person has a different skill and task to fulfill. And when you are doing that life-task that God has meant for you, then you are fulfilling your passion in life.

It is also important to surround yourself with people who will encourage you to pursue your passion, not ones who will put you down. Although there was an analogy of irritants being used in shells to manufacture pearls, it is generally better to be surrounded by positive people who may support and even complement your work. A team that has a combined output greater than the summation of its individual members output is always enough justification for the team-up.  Christians are better off working in teams than facing this world alone.