D2

By Jaye C. Bautista

Technews
reviously perceived as low-quality alternatives to their big budgeted counterparts, Indie games are presently enjoying a dignified status in the market. Valueadded effort and creativity from the designers makes up for the lack of development resources as the creators turn a disadvantage to an advantage. One such game that exemplifies this is Bastion. Developed by Supergiant Games and published by Warner Bros, Bastions unique style of gameplay and storytelling is made evident in the opening menus and cut-scenes. The story unfolds in a fictional world laid to waste by an apocalyptic event known as the Calamity. Players take on the role of the silent protagonist named as, The Kid. Having survived the disaster, The Kid ventures into Bastion to seek refuge and find other survivors. After a few quests, the player would find the Bastion a deserted place, save for an old man. The Kids mission then transforms from a failed reunion, into a quest to rebuild the world and find the cause of the Calamity. Bastion is played as a top-down action RPG, with the player viewing the character and his overall surroundings. Players must guide The Kid along ruins of the former world to collect crystals in order to rebuild

EVERY MONDAY October 17, 2011

Bastion: Unique gameplay and storytelling

Internet Insecurities
ere still on the subject of Internet INSECURITIES. Allow me to speak from experience. Geesh! Ive had to change my Facebook Accounts password many times. Ive had not only had my Yahoo email accounts hacked into they got me thru Yahoo Messenger as well! I was out on fieldwork one day and a pal of mine texted me asking if I was online on Yahoo Messenger (YM). I said, No, Im actually out and waiting for the person Im meeting with. She said youre on YM and I kinda doubted it was you because the person was speaking in Tagalog with profanities! First of all, I dont cuss, secondly, I for the most part rarely chat, converse much less write in Tagalog. So, someone logged on as me! Oh well, what do hackers bother to do such things? Profile of the hackers and online thieves There is no specific profile of a hacker for it could be anyone. One thing for sure, though, this persons intellect is above average, especially on the Techy savvyness. All it takes is the know-how and the motive. Take the case of that pinoy who created the I Love You virus in the late 90s, This bug made history notoriety by being the worlds first global Internet-borne virus. Known as the Love Bug, the virus spread from East to West in a single day, inflicting $5.5 billion in damages, corrupting files, and shutting down computer systems at major corporations, newsrooms, Wall Street firms and government offices across the world, including the Pentagon and the CIA. The worm arrived in peoples email boxes with a provocative subject line, I LOVE YOU: A love letter for you. When recipients opened the attachment, they unwittingly infected their own computer with the self-replicating worm as well as the computers of

everyone in their contact list. The author of the virus is believed to be Onel de Guzman, then 25, a student at AMA in Makati. Why did he do it? At the time, an hours worth of net access cost as much as half a days wage: 100 pesos, the equivalent of two dollars. For his graduation thesis in computer science, de Guzman, the son of a fisherman, wrote a program that would enable the average Filipino to get free Internet access by stealing passwords from the rich. His school rejected his thesis because of its bandit nature, so he could not graduate. Undeterred, de Guzman, with the help of friends, unleashed his virus the day before the university held its grad ceremony. This era finds us getting mails someone from Nigeria wanting to give you $1M to penis-enhancing pills to winning a trip for two! Today the hacker is usually portrayed in movies as either the geek next door, played by an impish young white actor with spiky hair, sneakers lashing snide remarks. Netizens, pay heed to these helpful hints: 1 Avoid disclosing personal info online coz this is like disclosing your identity to strangers in public place. 2 Avoid sending photos online particularly to strangers and chat friends to avoid misuse of pics. 3 Use latest and updated anti virus software 4 Always keep back up volumes so you dont suffer data loss in case of virus contamination 5 Never send your credit card number to any site that is not secured, to guard against frauds 6 Be vigilant about what sites your kids are accessing

the Bastion. Defeated enemies net the player with experience points and currency which could be used to buy upgrades and other in-game items. In terms of character development, the game only rewards a small Hit Point upgrade on level-up, giving no in-depth customization of the attributes of the Kid. However, the weapons system of Bastion makes up for the absent character customization by allowing players to fully personalize their weapons by improving them based on the players choice. The brilliant art and storytelling are the main points of Bastions highly-enticing gameplay. The artworks are similar to the storybooks which would seem like reliving ones childhood days. Even enemies themselves have a sense of a fairy

tale bad guy, not that menacing, but evil-looking nonetheless. Pitch the art together with its brilliant narration, and you got yourself a game skyrocketed to perfection. The narrator makes-up for the silence of the protagonist, and he does this in a very artistic fashion similar to noir movies. In my opinion, Bastions narrator is one of the best ones found in a game. The experience in playing Bastion is similar to viewing an animated story with combat and big bad bosses. For those who might think that Bastion is for kids, then think again. With its highly enticing artwork, its praise-worthy storytelling, and addictive combat, Bastion is certainly one of the games that you have to play. (Jose Gamaliel Felongco)

Power Mac Center satisfies customers

ower Mac Center (PMC) has recently streamlined its aftersales services to reduce lead times and ensure a quick turnaround for customers product servicing requirements. Since October 1, all Apple units for service repair and parts replacements are accepted and released exclusively at Power Mac Center Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASPs) certified by Apple to provide comprehensive support and repair services for Mac, iPod and iPad

units. Anticipating an increase in the number of clients at its AASPs, Power Mac Center has extended its operating hours to accommodate more customers. Power Mac Centers AASPs are located at Lumier Chateau Building, 285 P. Guevarra St., San Juan, Greenhills (open from 9:00 AM 6:00 PM), and at PMC branches at Greenbelt 3, Makati (11:00 AM 9:00 PM) and TriNoma mall, EDSA North Avenue (10:00 AM 8:00 PM). According to PMC Marketing Manager Joey Alvarez, This move is part of Power Mac Centers efforts to ensure customer satisfaction at

all times that is, before, upon and after a products purchase from our stores. Consequently, all transactions, including pick-ups and follow-ups, at PMCs non-AASP stores or branches, will be reverted to any of these three service centers. Customers can also check progress of the repairs via online repair tracking system. For more details on their latest offers and other Power Mac Center services and promos, as well as updates on the latest Apple products, visit their website at www.powermaccenter.com.

More than just IT degree

Time flies so fast, especially when you are having a great time. This October 2011, it dawned on me that I have been working for one of the biggest IT companies in the world for three long years now. I have since transferred teams from the time I entered the organization and have had experienced so many different things. Looking back when I was in elementary, high school, and even college, taking on an IT degree seemed like its just all about computers, programming, and software. Apparently, theres a whole lot more into it. Graduating from college gave a bunch of pressure in going into a great company that provides good training opportunities and compensation. When I entered my organization, thats the time I realized that IT has a wide variety of career paths and choices. And theres nothing to be afraid of. Here are lessons Id like to share. You dont need to be a programmer. There are many people who dont love programming, or programming just doesnt love them however hard work they put on it. I vividly remember telling my interviewer, Give me any IT job except anything with programming. It might sound stubborn, but I got hired in a matter of weeks. Learn the basic IT and youre good to go. Big organizations have a lot of roles that need not be an expert of anything at least for fresh graduates. In fact, they welcome applicants even without knowledge on the technology youre being hired for. You just need to have the base knowledge and discipline of IT and eventually just learn the technology through trainings. Remember important things from your courses. Companies do not expect you to remember everything youve studied for the last 14 years. However, I would suggest remembering only the most important concepts from a select number of courses you have taken. Youd realize that it will come in handy as you work up the corporate ladder. Theres more than just hardware and software. Whatever suits your personality and working preferences, you would surely find the right role for you. Good at organizing, managing clients and documents? There are Project Management roles. Excelling in development? You may choose to be a Software Developer. Inclined towards implementing IT projects through system configuration and testing? Several Project Implementation roles are available. Want a resolver/contact center setup of different levels? Youre assured to find Support roles. And the list goes on. Even non-IT graduates get to land jobs in an IT organization. As a fresh graduate, you dont have to fear. What companies usually look at are the personality and characteristics more than just grades. Learn the discipline that education gives and finding a job will be a breeze. (Glenn Richmond Ong)

An iPhone 4S - 4 Steve?
hen Apple announced the iPhone 4S instead of the much anticipated iPhone 5, a lot of people were disappointed. Personally, I was disappointed by how it was presented (but I found out that it was because of THE empty chair), rather than the lack of the iPhone 5. I guess I absorbed too much of the Reality-Distortion-Field (RDF) to get affected by the iPhone 4 upgrade. Dont get me wrong, I was rooting for an updated form factor, not because the iPhone 4 design is not pretty (still prettier than the leading plastic phone from another brand), but because I wanted a brand new look. However, Apple just schooled me in the economics of manufacturing -- investing on a revolutionary design and let it last long enough to get back your investment. I guess the iPhone 3G to 3GS transition (4 to 4S and 5 to 5S and so on) is in Apples overall plan. In addition, think about how most of the iPhone carrying Americans whose 2 year subscription plan are ending and due for an upgrade, perfect upgrade path. Pretty basic, huh? If the 1-million day 1 pre-order numbers of the iPhone 4S is any indication that Apple has another hit with this upgrade, then I do think that Apple has nothing to worry about. If you are asking me if I will upgrade, the answer is YES. Why? The most obvious reason is because I am a fanboy! Haha. Seriously (yes, am seriously a fanboy too), the overall user experience is still topnotch on the iOS platform than on any of the leading platforms in the market today! Next question might be why? The specs are old! I agree that the hardware specifications are old compared to what the Android

By ROMMEL FERIA

smartphones have. When did Apple go head-to-head on specs anyway? When the first iPhone was released, the lack of a physical keypad claimed to be its downfall - where are we now? Going back to the specs, a dualcore A5 chip, the one running on the very same iPad 2 that I am typing this article on, is plenty fast! It can go head-to-head with the dual-core 1+ GHz smartphones in the market today! I guess benchmarks will prove it later when iPhone 4S gets into the hands of the likes of Ars Technica, but I am pretty sure it will hold its own against the others. Eight megapixel camera? Pundits claim that this is old spec, too, considering that other phones have 10 megapixels and some are coming out with 12! Similar to compact cameras and DSLR, it is not about the megapixels but about (1) lens, (2) CMOS and the (3) in-camera imaging software. If the iPhone 4 is any indication of how awesome Apple can engineer a smartphone camera, then the iPhone 4S sure wont disappoint -- I hope. I guess we will see how folks will be using its 8 megapixel pointand-shoot alternative. 1080p HD video? Cmon! Catching up with our specs, huh? So say the other smartphone manufacturers. Apple just did not add it to catch-

up with the specs, it added video stabilization - I am curious on how this was implemented and will see how this improvement compares with what other smartphones have. You call that a screen at 3.5? Smartphones have 4.25 and higher to be awesome! For a moment there, i got caught in this mentality that the bigger the smartphone screen the better, of course, not bigger than 5, or it will be ridiculous, until I read the blog entry of UX designer Dustin Curtis <http://next.dustincurtis. com/2011/10/03/3-point-5-inches/>. Dustin accurately presented what Apples design gurus (led by Jobs, of course) intended with the 3.5 display -- a sweet spot that allows one to operate the phone with one hand. Dustin Curtis showed that doing the same on a 4.25 screen might require some circus-like abilities. Makes me wonder now, if you can comfortably operate a qwerty keyboard on a phone with one hand. (waiting for GRO to reply hehe) Of course, the hardware specifications is just one part of the battle. The other is software (iOS 5), ecosystem (iTunes store and iCloud) and overall user experience. Not all platform provide all of these elements into a single unified solution. So if you think that your favorite phone has a chance against the iPhone, let me know when you get 1 million orders on the first day.