DC: The New 52… Continued

So a couple of weeks back I reviewed three titles from the new 52. This week I’ll continue with the Batman titles. All in all, there are eight batman titles in circulation in the new 52 (not counting Batman Inc., Batman Beyond Unlimited and previously ongoing titles). Now obviously I’m not going to review all of them,or even half of them for that matter… because (a) I can’t bother reading the back stories of all the superheroes (sorry Batgirl, Batwoman and Red Hood) (b) some of them have been consistently getting bad reviews (Batman: Gotham Knight) and (c) screw it! I’m lazy.

To start things off: BATMAN!Yes the original (nothing else added to the title) Batman.  I think I’ll stick to the Plot, Artwork, Character format for reviewing like last time. Now this was easily the best Batman title out there, and for good reason! Starting off with the plot… just epic. It’s starts off, and ends with, a bang. The first comic sees Batman team up with Joker to kick some ass and as we’re adjusting to this crazy opening we realize it’s Dick Grayson (Nightwing) in disguise. This is followed by a huge social gathering in which the whole (or most of) the Batman family gets together. As the story moves along we’re met with a strange new foe/organization, The Court of Owls. Huge props to Snyder here for creating such a bad ass new foe. He could have gone with the tried and tested method of using the classics like Joker, Penguin, Bane or Scarecrow. It was always going to be a hit or miss and lucky for him it was right on the money. We slowly uncover how deep the Court of Owls runs through Gotham and how so many of the characters are entrenched in it’s bloody history. ‘Course i’m not gonna give anything away but the ending to this epic saga is mind blowing, and a little outrageous but hey!

The Powa of Fat Aunties!

Just one of those random thoughts from the top of my head.

Was watching this soap with the family a few nights ago (more like 5-6years ago ). Usual PTV crap.

Mummy telling the Prodigal Sonny boy; ‘Betaw, get married to this doctor chick. I’m scared of dying of something as embarrassing as heart disease since I’m too busy too care for my over-inflated body. She’ll be around and take care of me…’

Now that’s a fact in Pakistani society. Aunties want their future daughter-in-laws to be DOCTORS. In addition to resembling Jessica Alba that is. And that got me thinking… the effect of Aunty as a consumer force in Pakistan. I mean they’re already propelling the medical college industry with their huge demand for medic/dish-washing/childbearing/supermodel-cyborgs.

Will the world end this year?

This topic has been buried lately. This was quite the buzz back in 2010. During that time, I composed an article giving reasons to why the world will or will not end in 2012 (i.e this year). That article was published in the newspaper, but not online. Therefore, I shall post it here so that it can be read by a larger audience. Do note that this article is two years old. Some information might be invalid now.

For quite a while now, there has been talk of the ‘End of the World’ in 2012. And now, recently, scientists have predicted that the world might actually end and all life on Earth could finish. Some believe that it is the humans who will trigger this. Others suspect a deadly natural phenomena to occur, while the religious folks believe that it’ll be God who will push the ‘End’ button.

Failure is good

A thousand lessons in failure and none in victory, or so the saying goes. But in my experience of Dragon Age 2 and Deus Ex: Human Revolution this is doubly true. Fair warning, this will have spoilers for Dragon Age 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mass Effect

Dragon Age 2 is the sequel of the immensely popular Dragon Age: Origins game by Bioware, and was regarded by most to be an incredible disappointment. The game was a solid 7.5 – 8, but coming from a developer like Bioware that is quite low. While I quite agree that it was a far inferior game to its predecessor in terms of gameplay and story, what irked me most about it were the characters. I hated every single one of them. All of them except my Hawke himself (yes I know that sounds very arrogant, just listen).

Communication – worth every dime spent.

On a normal day, we would all like to get out of bed, grab a cup of coffee and sway towards the computer, keeping our smartphone nearby and our Facebook* logged in from both. We know how the T.V is airing the morning news and if we’d want to call in sick for work then its just a call away.

So what makes us all grow so reachable, and when did the world become so small?

Vegetarians, Please.

Note: If you don’t have a strong heart please look away, for this post contains depictions of violence and possible gore.

I was already indulged in my very own fantasy, conjured within my mind. I hadn’t known of a greater pleasure as I dug in the ovaries, munching away the flesh quite recklessly away from it. None could par the unparalleled taste of this delicacy, as I slowly licked my lips, trying to leach out every single bit of juice that was left. I made way to the uterus and what came next was truly a sight to behold; the foetus. Wet and covered in delicious red fluids, my mouth watered more than ever. Deciding to leave the best for last, I cleared out the surrounding bits of flesh that covered the delicate foetus, covered in a shell. Grabbing the cord that connected it to the placenta, I raised the foetus up, carefully examining every detail on it before my arm slowly craned downwards, fingers making way to my mouth as I inserted the foetus halfway in my mouth, taking my time sucking the flavours out of the poor life. The life that couldn’t resist no matter how bad it wanted to. The life that had no idea of its bleak future as it daydreamed of glory; delusions of grandeur within that little protective shell that wasn’t so protective in my palms. Fetching a chisel, it took no more than three strikes to break the cage the foetus was being coddled in. Defenseless now, I took the exposed imbecile and placed it between my teeth, crushing with ease as I discarded the shell.

How To Play World of Warcraft on a Private Server

World of Warcraft is undoubtedly one of the greatest Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs). Despite what internet trolls might say, everyone knows that WoW is the absolute champion of MMORPGs due to it’s vast lore, great graphics and large player base, asides from great gameplay, music and story.

But it’s clear that WoW is old. People no longer want to continue paying to play, now that they play lesser every day. Plus, those players who quit the game, and now want to rejoin, but can’t because they’ve sold their characters and don’t want to level up are now looking for ways to avoid paying and get stuff in the game faster. In order help such people and play messiah to them, private servers were introduced.

Some very popular WoW servers are Molten, Maelstorm and Magic.

The benefits of private servers are that it is absolutely free. Since you are not using Blizzard’s servers, there is no need to pay them. However, do note that downloading World of Warcraft is illegal and should not be done. Get the legit game either from Blizzard’s official website or from a game store. Other than that, private servers can get you to a higher level faster. Every private server has a number of realms that have different rates. For example, some servers offer a rate of 4x. Hence, if you were to gain 100 experience points in the Blizzard servers, you’ll receive 400 points in the private server. This is a good feature for those who’ve already played the game before and just want to get to a higher level faster without any drag.

In order to connect to a private server, you need the following things:

1. A copy of World of Warcraft, with the expansion pack up to Wrath of the Lich King, since most servers do not offer Cataclysm as yet. And those that do have yet to work on all the instances.

2. A good computer

3. An internet connection (1MB is needed, but 2MB is preferred)

Touhou Project

I am sure that whoever here watches anime, has at some point, knows of or is familiar with Touhou Project. A game franchise made solely by one man that goes by the name of ZUN. We can’t really get much story behind his work except for the fact that he has once worked with the game company of Taito and the he loves drinking beer. Fascinating, eh? Who would have thought that a franchise that has made thirteen releases, consisted of memorable soundtracks, and consisting of 120+ characters would all have been done by just one beer-binging, Japanese guy.

For those that do not know of the Touhou Project, it’s just a series of vertical-scrolling shooters. (Example: Raiden Project) The series is known as as the Danmaku, or “Bullet Hell,” shooter that requires the player avoid a massive bombardment of enemy projectiles. And let me tell you this; these projectile patterns are deadly– as they are beautiful.

127 Life Stories

This has not been written by me. Here is the Original Source.

This piece refers to the horrible tragedy of Bhoja Air Plane Crash that happened in Islamabad on 20th April, 2012. You can read about it here. This is, however, a piece of fiction. 

–

He was 19. Only 19. Not even third of the way through average life expectancy. On his way to Islamabad to give his visa interview at the Canadian Embassy. Just two weeks ago he got into that college of his dreams in Toronto and the paperwork had just begun. He is never graduating with that degree of prestige in his hand. Never getting his dream job, never marrying his young love. When they hung up and he turned his phone off, the last few words that he said and the last few words that he heard her say were the same: those three words, that acceptance of love.

“I’ll call you when we land.”

—-

O Levels Guide for Islamiat and Pakistan Studies

I’m a Grade X student. And I’ll be giving my CIEs for Islamiat and Pak Studies in the next month. I’ve read, re-read and re-re-read the syllabus content for both the papers, and I’ve noted down everything that my teachers have told me. I’ve also gained information from various forums about how to attempt each of the papers.

Hence, since I have some free time, I thought I’d briefly summarise all that I’ve learnt to provide help and guidance to all you other students who will be appearing for the same paper.

(I don’t pretend to know everything, and nor am I some ‘super-genius’ from whom you can receive tips to get A*’s. I’m just trying to provide a little help and guidance).