Seated

Some places call it Metro. Some places call it Metro. We call it the MTR in our city, which abbreviates for Mass Transit Railway. These are basically railway systems with stations and stops at every few hundred meters or at every inhabited area, and the whole system will be comprised of a number of railway lines, depending on the size of the city. For railway systems such as the MTR, the frequency of trains is also another important issue. The frequency of the trains arriving at various stations is usually set at around 4 minutes per train. Of course, this timing of train frequency differs between various lines and time periods of the day, but it is still true that the MTR has one of the lowest average waiting time of all public transports. Most people who live or have lived in a metropolitan will have experience travelling with one of such railway system, or even commuting with it. Nevertheless, even with its speed and convenience, there are certain social issues, or complications, that the MTR has brought about. One of such issues is the sharing of seats.

Due to a design that focuses on the conservation of space, the number of seats in each MTR train compartment is relatively limited. The seats of the trains are normally occupied by passenger even when it is not peak hours. So what will happen when all the seats are occupied and someone who looks like he is in need of that spot walks in? Someone that is physically challenged, such as a old man or a pregnant lady, or a child. It is not uncommon for one of such person to walk in. So if you are the one seated, what will you do? Will you stand up and offer your seat to that person? Or will you remain seated, since it doesn't really concern you?

I have seen one of such person in almost every week. An old or pregnant lady or some little kid will walk into the train compartment of which I am seated, look around and find that all the seats are occupied with people. I am more than willing to offer my seat, and I normally do so because it is perfectly fine if I have to stand for twenty or so minutes of the remaining journey. For someone who is twenty odd years old and in good health, I won't find that anything near tedious. However, I have two concerns. One is that I'll normally wait a couple of seconds to see if someone is willing to offer their seat first. Not that I am trying to see if I can keep my seat or anything, but I will feel awkward if me and another person stood up simultaneously just to offer a seat to another person. Don't ask why, that's me.

Another concern I have is that the person I am offering my seat to might take it personally that I am stereotyping him or her as old or physically impaired. It happened once, when an old man got angry when I tried to offer him my seat. He screamed at me, saying that I shouldn't treat him like an old fart because he is only fifty plus. From then on, I normally won't look for an empty seat if the train ride is something less than 10 minutes. If I don't have it, I can't offer it, simple.

Nevertheless, the scene of someone offering their seat to others, apart from myself, is quite a rare find in the area that I lived. It has happened, of course, but not common. Many a time I have seen people of my age and physique remaining seated at their MTR seats when someone old walked past, sluggishly with a walking stick. I am normally standing somewhere in my own corner when that happens. Not that I can offer anything to that particular old person, and I won't give a public lecture to the people who are seated. Who am I to cause a scene for something that many people take as something trivial? I have my morals and they have theirs, and I have no intention of intruding other's inner self. But anyway, I guess I'm thinking too much when I wait for someone to offer his or her seat first before me. That won't happen in my society.

I was talking to a friend of mine, Suni, about this. He smiled and gave his reply.

"That's why I read." Suni gave his reply half-smilingly.

"What? What do you mean by 'you read'?" I asked, not really understanding what Suni meant.

"When I find my own little comfy seat on the MTR, I'll normally take out a book and stare hard at it. Not that I am really interested in what the book is saying, but at least I won't look at the old person standing in front of me and feel guilty. Yea, that's why I said I read."

After hearing that from Suni, I couldn't find the right words to reply him, so he continued.

"But you know what? There are quite a number of old people who will stand in front of you can cough real hard to capture your attention. I really hate those kind of people. I mean, can't you see that I am concentrating on my little novel? And let's not forget that the train compartment is noisy enough without your coughs."

At that point in time, I realized that something is wrong with what Suni is saying. I'm not talking about his moral values, because, like what I've said earlier, I won't give others moral lectures or anything. Just don't be offensive and I'll be okay with it. Still, there is a certain something that seems quite out of place.

"I didn't know that you are into reading. Glad that you're finally into books." I've finally found what's wrong with what Suni has said.

"I read, but not from a book." Suni replied.

"Then from what?"

"Before I answer you, think about this. Why do you think that smart phones are so popular nowadays?"

After saying that and giving his usual grin, Suni took out his phone and started reading the news from it.

Apple's i

Apple Inc. The company that made its products and services, such as iPods, iTunes, iPhones and iMacs hits in today's society. Apple is a company that sells and manages computers and high-end consumer electronics. Noticing how Apple name all their products with an "i" in front? What will Apple name their products/services if the follow were to be manufactured?

A pair of sports shoes?
iRan

A masters degree course on business administration?
iMBA

A basketball team or tournament?
iSlam

A cubic electronic device?
iSquare

An "English Language Teaching" school?
iELTS

A football club?
iFC

Notes:
Iran = a country in middle east.
Islam = a religion.
Imba = imbalance.
iSquare = a shopping center in Hong Kong
ielts = a British English qualification examination
ifc = international finance center, a building in Hong Kong

I believe you can try.

Henry's friend, John, made himself a pair of wings out of paper and thin bamboo sticks. It took John almost a week's time to make those wings, and he is very proud of himself and his handicraft. John spent the entire week talking to everyone about nothing but those pair of wings, and it is certain to everyone, including Henry, that John is obsessed. One reason is that it looks ridiculously flimsy. But then and again, since it's his friend's work, Henry forced himself to give compliments on it.

When the pair of wings is finally completed, Henry, dragged alongside John, went to a nearby hillside for a test fly. When they reached a cliff of a few meters tall John, beaming with ego and all, strode towards it with pride. Henry stood behind, watching like one of John's lackeys. This looks like trouble, Henry told himself in silence. Before long, John stood at a spot a couple of meters away from the edge of the cliff, with the stance similar to that of a runner right before the start of the race.

"Hey. You know what?" John said, gazing hard at the edge of the cliff.

"No I don't. What?" Henry replied, trying not to look at the imbecile figure right in front of him.

"I have been waiting for this moment since I was 4. This will definitely be the greatest achievement of my life. I will fly. I definitely will fly. I will set a new record for humanity. Me, John, flying. I will succeed. Do you know why?" John said.

"No."

"Because ..." John took a deep breath after saying, and started moving forward. " ... because I believe I can fly!"

Right before John finished his sentence, he reached the edge and leaped into the air. John's last word echoed, and for that split second, Henry thought that he saw John soaring into the air and embracing the sky like a child running towards his long lost mother for the first time in years. Henry wasn't sure why, but that is definitely the image that he saw. Maybe it is a sudden rush of adrenaline in his body, or maybe time has entered its parallel counterpart for a split second and got stuck. Henry wasn't sure it's which. The only thing Henry was certain, as he believed, was that what he was seeing cannot be true.

Whether it was for the good or for the bad, Henry was right in his disbelief. After what seemed like a second or two of flight, John's physical body could not fight the charisma and elegance of Mother Nature and her gravity. No matter how hard John flapped his arm, or rather his wings, John accelerated towards the hard and forbidding ground. John's echo turned into a high pitch shriek, one that made Henry thought, for the first and last time of his life, that John was a female. John was falling. 

All these ended at an instant, and John's one sided fight with the invincible Mother Nature is soon over. He landed with a thud and started to moan in pain. Henry went over to the edge as soon as he realized that John has landed and, from his moans, is still alive. Henry's eyes met with the blood stained John, who lost the ego, the pride that he was previously carrying with him into the air. John was utterly defeated. Henry sighed, and said the following.

"I don't believe you can fly, but ... I believe you can try."

We are cannibals

American: Asians are evil.

Asian: Why?

American: Asian eat cats.

Asian: Huh? On what basis did you say that for?

American: I know they eat cats. I have seen that on movies.

Asian: Oh. But you know what? Americans eat cats too.

American: No we don't.

Asian: Yes you do.

American: What are your basis for saying that?

Asian: Do you eat fish? And beef?

American: Yea, we do. But whats that got to do with cat eating? We don't eat cats.

Asian: There you go, you've admitted it yourself. You eat "cattle" and "catfish".

American: Oh someone is trying to be a smart ass now, is he? You know what? Asians eat dogs too.

Asian: Not all Asian does that.

American: Oh yea? Many Asian cities are famous for their dog meat. Asians are evil.

Asian: Americans too.

American: No we don't. We don't eat dog meat.

Asian: What about hotdogs?

American: Are you trying to be funny? [Shows fist]

Asian: We are civilized, so lets not get physical.

American: Whatever. But you know what? Asians are cannibals. They eat humans!

Asian: True. I can't deny that.

American: Ha, so you agree that Asians are evil.

Asian: No. What I am trying to say is that we eat men because of you westerners.

American: What? What are you trying to say?

Asian: Who do you think invented "mentos"?

American: What???

[Asian sneaks away and ran off before American figures out what happened]

L4D Tips for Noobs

There are many Left 4 Dead players out there who keep saying that they don't care if someone is new as long as that person is cooperative. I have seen and heard this many many many times, and to be frank, I am pretty sick of it. Why? The reason is simple: saying that someone is ok even though he's new as long as he's cooperative is the same as saying that it is ok if I shoot you in the head as long as you don't die. Don't know what I mean? Of course, I meant it figuratively, but the thing is, most newbies don't cooperate, or at least they don't cooperate in our way. I know I am trying to write a little set of tips here, but I don't mean anything personal. They just don't know the game well enough to be that cooperative. So here I am, writing a few little tips for anyone who's interested.

      Communicate with others

Do some talking. The "y" button isn't there for nothing. I don't mean it by typing long sentences such as "Hey guys, there's a Molotov here. Who wants it?" A simple word like "go?" or "stop" or "wait" can be very effected in most occasions.Or simply use the "z" or "x" button voice commands. Get used to those voice commands such as "yes" "no" "let's go" and etc. They're useful, especially when they're normally translated into the other player's language on their own screen in the captions (more on this later). Of course, if you have hands free, go ahead and use your mic. But don't abuse it, because some people won't like it and you'll most likely get muted. So what happens if you've said or typed something but the message isn't getting across to the other players? Don't bother playing with them. Normal players won't ignore you.

     Have Captions on

Switch full captions on in the options menu (It's somewhere in the audio). It's simple, most of the times the audios will fail you, especially special infected/Tank voices. It's easier to detect them with captions. Another thing is that it will "literalize" the z and x voice commands, regardless of the vocal volume. Pretty useful in most times. But then what happens if the caption fails you? Good luck ...

     Keep in Pace

Keep up or slow down so that you are with your team at most times. Try not to run too far ahead of your team or lag behind in all occasions. The reason is simple: if you run into some kind of trouble, such as being restrained by special infecteds, or suddenly facing a large amount of hordes, you can have your teammates to help you. Keep in mind that you need another player's help if you want to free yourself from special infected.

     Keep your Health in Check

Before anything, make sure you understand how does a first aid kit works. When you use a first aid kit, your health points will change to the number in the follow equation: (80 + (hp before use / 5)). This means that your hp will be (80 + (80/5)) = 96 if you used a kit when you have 80 hp. Likewise, you will have (80 + (0/5)) = 80 hp when you use a kit with no hp (as in all your hp are temporary health points). Remembering that you will only get one first aid kit in each saferoom (unless you steal other's), it is better to heal when your health is lower than 20, or if you are near saferoom, just bare with it.
Apart from first aid kits, another healing item will be the pain pills. They give you up to 50 temporary health points, and these heal points will degenerate as time pass. They can help you to get past troubled times because it takes less than a second to consume a bottle of pills, and you can regain your speed right after that, but, again, remember to keep your health in check.
Two other health related items will be adrenaline and defibrillator. The adrenaline gives you only 25 temporary health points, but you will run faster, shoot faster, heal faster and use items faster when under adrenaline's effect (which lasts for something like 10 seconds). I personally prefer pain pills, but adrenaline is useful if you're on a spot which requires you to run at full speed. As for defibrillator, I won't recommend it because it takes up a first aid space and you can simply open closet doors to save your peers. But then and again, if you have nothing on your first aid slot, and you see a defibrillator lying around, just take it.

     Know Your Position

Every map is unique, and every map has their best defensive spots. It takes time to understand which spot is better for defending panic events in which map. I won't be going into detail about each and every map, but, considering that you don't know the map well, there are a few things you can keep in mind while defending zombies in a panic event.
One very basic concept in almost all zombie games is that, one fort is always better than two. It's always easier to fight with zombies coming from one side than zombies coming for two sides (front and back or left and right), or, worse still, zombies coming from all directions. The reason is simple, you can focus on your firing.
When you want to face zombies only from the front, one good way is to pin yourself up against a wall, or better still a wall corner. But that only solves half the problem, because there will be quite a large angle for zombies to come in (180 if you're up against the wall or 90 if u are up against a corner). Another good way to narrow down the inflow of zombies will be to make use of the doors. Most doors are the width of only one to two zombies and the zombies will have to squeeze in to get to you. It will be easier to kill the zombies, be it with a blade or a gun.
One other thing about zombie defending in panic event is to climb high. Scale high a bit, like on a table or a bookshelf. The reason is simple: it's easier to aim for their heads. Of course, it takes some extra time for them to reach you as well, as they might be climbing the table or shelf or whatever.
Of course, it is important to be familiar with the maps. You won't want to get lost that often, right?

     Know your sidearm.

The main weapon is important, and I won't touch on that. Some people like AK, some like military sniper, and some are better with auto shotguns. It's up for you to decide what you want to use. But the thing I want to talk about is side arm. There are two types of side arms: pistols and melee. For pistols, and for most new players, I will recommend the magnum, or desert eagle depending on what you want to call it. The reason being is that the desert eagle can kill a normal infected with one shot in most cases (except for police) and it has 8 bullets. Though with a slower firing speed, it has more kill per reload and kill per hit ratio when compared to glock or dual glock. For glock, you'll only be better off if you can get head shots for more than half of your shots, and it's very clear that most people can't. So just use a magnum and its a trustworthy side arm. As for melee weapons, I'll recommend those with blades, such as machete, Katana and (less preferably) fire axe. Machetes and katanas have the fastest swinging speed of all melee weapons. They can kill normal infecteds with one hit, of which this applies to the fire axe as well. Although they don't have push back capabilities, unlike other melee weapons, they are the only melee weapons which can kill zombies with just one hit at a wide angle. So what I'm trying to say is, if you can get a magnum, go for it. If not, grab one of those melee weapons with a blade.

     Reload!
Like all shooters, it is important to keep your ammunition count in check, especially side arm. Most people often forgets to reload their side arm when they are done using them for clearing off zombies in panic events.

     Special infected got your teammate? Shoot!

I have seen countless of people chasing another person who has been grabbed by a charger or jockey or smoker with a melee weapon (and that person being grabbed is usually me ...). Do you have any idea how much it hurts when some special infected grabs a survivor? The health points are ticking away like the clock and you're still chasing after the survivor, pushing away infecteds along the way. Come on, you have a gun, so shoot it!!!

These little tips should be enough for new players. I got all work up thinking about idiots chasing a jocky-mounted survivor with a baseball bat. Anyway, that's it, for now.