Golden Compass

My initial response to the movie was - "Another fantasy movie, again?". Ever since LOTR & Harry Potter burst into cinema screens, it seems all the production houses are now wanting a pie of the fantasy epics.

This movie which is based on a fantasy book as well sees young girl, Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards), an orphan who is given a fantasy ride & runaway with Mrs Coulter (Nicole Kidman), while her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), is embarking on a trip to the Arctic Circle to investigate a mysterious element intriguingly called Dust.

The movie focus on Lyras world of wanting to save her friends & fellow children who are missing, and apparently being used as experiment objects. Lyras confidence, good negotiation skills & intelligence sees her banding together with the Gyptians, the mysterious witch Serafina Pekkala (Eva Green) and Texas airman Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott).

This young kid is flung into an adventure that took her to the wilds of the icy north, where she allied a polar bear named Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen), who pledges to serve her in her campaign until she prevails.

True to the fantasy movies, this movie shows talking animals and flying ships. But the best part of the movie is not from these fantasies, but more so the the lessons from it - like how a young girl gets people to be her allies by doing smart intelligent & courages moves. The part whereby each character has an animal as their daemon, or more like an inner voice & soul, also shows how we constantly have other thoughts running in our heads for every move we make.

Though the movie has an original plot, some new different ideas from other fantasy based movies - like the daemons, & good lessons, however, the overdose of these fantasy epics has raised the bar much more, and somehow the Golden Compass fall short of it compared to its peers. Unlike the other trilogies like LOTR or Matrix, which each episode can end on its own, the Golden Compass part 1 seems to leave a bad hanging ending, despite good acting from its casts, especially Nicole Kidmans with her evil looks and her evil blue eyes.

Still, Golden Compass is a decent movie, and will be a good watch for fantasy epic fans.

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Last Chaos – awesome MMORPG game

Site: http://lastchaos.aeriagames.com/
Last Chaos is a free-to-play, 3D MMORPG with cool graphics and nice gameplay. The game looks incredibly similar to the popular pay to play MMORPG Lineage 2. More or less most of the free to play MMORPGs have problems with its gameplay. They sure look good but after some time the player finds no depth. In contrast, Last Chaos doesn’t have awesome graphics but its gameplay is ways above. I really was amazed to find myself addicted to a game so fast. 

Graphics
The game has somewhat beautiful graphics with large castles, vast territories and strange monsters. There are also a lot of different pets and mounts with bright and cool graphics, they create part of the magic atmosphere in the game. The horses maybe are a bit to colorful but the overall impression isn’t bad.

Gameplay
One drawback of this cool game is the poor customization options of the game characters. I really prefer to have bigger choice.
When I play MMO games I prefer to play magic damage dealer so I created a mage character. At the beginning my mage was thrown in something called private dungeon – there you can fight different monsters (zombies and similar) and learn the interface. At the end of the dungeon I was teleported to the first town. What made me an impression was that the game has good number of players – many players were selling different goods and some number of newbies like me was fighting low level monsters outside the gates. There were also many players leveling their pets with low level mobs. The pets are something cool – with many different shapes and colors – not your usual stupid (or cute) looking pets but fantasy creatures with nice and eye-catching design.
The monsters also make an impression – they are not grouped by types and you can see many different kinds in one field. The foxes at the beginning look too much like the keltirs from L2.
The game offers large maps with many places for exploration and different mobs. You are actually free to do what you want, you are not bound to different quests like “run to point A, return to B, then run back to A”. Of course you can do quests as you want and they bring a lot of experience (I usually go and take all available quests before hunting but I don’t like to do quests only).

Classes
Last Chaos has six playable races – Knight, Healer, Mage, Rogue, Titan and Sorcerer.
Knight - The knight is your usual tough guy with sword and shield or two swords.
Healer – She is a surprise, she actually can use bow and arrows and she can become an archer or a cleric at her first job change.
Mage – I like characters with high damage, especially high AoE damage.
Rogue – fast and deadly character she can use dual daggers or a crossbow.
Titan – rough guy with high HP and sword or axe of course. Do you like barbarians? My brother always plays this type of characters.
Sorcerer – something like summoner, maybe strong character. I need to try this one soon.

PVP
I haven’t tried it yet, my character is brand new, but I prefer to play on PVP servers. I was surprised to see a bunch of high level, bored people at the town gates in the middle of PVP battle.

The story
Actually I spent some time reading the story – war between gods of course. Good against evil, light against darkness and we, the humans were always the good ones, blessed with many abilities. Now you can choose a side and fight for it. So cool, I wonder who writes these stories and why game creators or publishers won’t hire a professional writer to do the job. Either way, the game is cool, maybe the best free to play game out there.

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About MySQL Databases and SQL Commands

In the last post we ‘created
a database’ from our script as an example to test the working
of MySQL. Actually a database is a set of tables for storing data. The tables
in a database may be logically related with each other. MySQL supports unlimited
number of databases and for each application you may use a different one

To understand relation between a database and tables consider an example of
a database oriented Note
Keeping application. Since it needed user authorization we can store
user information such as username and password in one table, upgrading that
system to multi-user capable is also possible because a table can store any
number of rows (i.e. different set of username & password, in this case).
We’ll also need a second table for storing note data. Thus we’re
using a database having two tables to store data related to a single application.

The following image illustrates this relation quite well:

MySQL database server supports the creation, storing and retrieval of data using
the Structured Query Language. SQL is quite easy to understand and work with,
probably because it is very much plain English. Below I’m stating a few
useful SQL commands:

1. CREATE DATABASE

It creates a database named ‘temp’. We discussed about it in the
post Installing,
Configuring and Testing MySQL Database Server on localhost

2. CREATE TABLE

It creates a table inside a database. The database to be worked with should
first be selected using the following PHP command:

$db->slelect_bd($dbname);

it could be run after first creating the database through a SQL query. After
selection of database the following SQL query will create a table inside that
database (since a table is not an independent entity).

CREATE TABLE one (id INT, name VARCHAR(20));

The above query creates a table ‘one’ with two data fields id of
type integer and name of type character (20 characters long). This table can
hold any number of data.

3. INSERT INTO

After creation of table we can insert data into it with the following SQL query:

INSERT INTO one (id, name) VALUES (1,’PHP’);

4. SELECT

It is used to request data form a table.

SELECT * FROM one;

It will request all (*) the rows from the table ‘one’.

NOTE: Though SQL commands end with a ‘;’ semicolon, you don’t
have to have it when querying database from PHP. SQL commands from PHP works
both in UPPER and lower case.

Previous Articles:

• 
  Installing,
  Configuring and Testing MySQL Database Server on localhost
  
  


• 
  Designing
  a Simple Online Note Keeping Web Site
  
  


• 
  Implementing
  User Authorization Using Session Control
  
  


• 
  What
  is Session Control/Variables?
  
  


• 
  Some
  Useful Array Manipulation Functions in PHP
  
  

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Heap Sorting method and algorithm

In heap sorting process:

First of all organizing the whole data to be sorted as a binary tree i.e. heap. And after that impletment heap sorting.

Step 1: (How to data organizing as binary tree?)

Remember only 2 rule:

Rule:1.

The parent node must be greater then child node.
If parent node is not greater then to child node not replace it with parent node. And if binary tree is large then, if relaceing child node(now its parent node) is greater then to great-parent node then its also is replace the great-parent node.

Rule:2.

New element always insert in left side and after right side of parent node.
If left side of parent element has already element then new element would be insert in right side. And if right side of parent node has already element then new element will be insert in left side.

Step 2: (How to perform heap sorting:)

Remove the topmost element(largest element) and replace it with the rightmost element.

Step 3:

Repeat steps 1 and 2 untill all elements is not sorted.

Heap Sorting method/process by example:

max heap : 80 , 32 , 31 , 110 , 50 , 40 , 120 

Step1:
                  80

Step2:  
                 80
              /      
           32        31

Step3:  
                 80                           80                         110
              /                            /                         /      
           32         31    ==>     110       31     ==>    80         31
          /                             /                            /
     110                           32                          32


Step4:
                 110
               /      
            80        31
          /            
      32       5


Step5:
                  110                               110
                /                                /      
             80         31    ==>          80        40
           /           /                     /         / 
        32      50   40                32      50   31



        
Step6:
                 110                               110                                120
               /                                /                                   /      
           80         40       ==>        80          120      ==>        80         110
         /          /                    /            /                     /          /    
     32       50   31   120         32     50    31     40           32     50  31       40

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(1)
                  120 [1]
                 
              /                

          80 [2]               110 [3]

      /                      /          

 32 [4]       50 [5]     31 [6]         40 [7]

// [1],[2],[3],[4],[5],[6],[7]: Index number 
// Now applying step 2(perform heap sorting)
// Replace the topmost element with the rightmost element.

(2)
             40                                     110      
           /                   Heaping        /      
        80       110        =====>     80          40
      /         /                         /           /    
   32     50   31    120              32     50   31    120

(3)
//now replace 110 with rightmost element i.e. 31 because 120 had been sorted.

            31                                        80                                 80
         /                 Heaping             /              Heaping         /      
       80        40        ======>        31         40      ======>    50       40
     /         /                             /          /                       /         /  
   32   50  110   120                  32     50   110    120           32    31  110  120

(4)
//now replace 80 with rightmost element i.e. 31 because 110, 120 had been sorted.

           31                                           50                                    50
         /                   Heaping              /                   Heaping         /    
       50       40          ======>         31          40        ======>    32      40
      /          /                             /           /                       /         /    
   32     80  110  120                    32     80     110    120           31     80  110   120

(5)
//now replace 50 with rightmost element i.e. 31 because 80, 110, 120 had been sorted. 

              31                                      40
           /                    Heaping         /      
       32           40        ======>    32         31
     /            /                         /         /    
   50     80    110    120             50     80  110    120

(6)
//now replace 40 with rightmost element i.e. 31 because 50, 80, 110, 120 had been sorted. 


              31                                     32
            /               Heaping            /    
         32      40        ======>        31       40
       /         /                           /         /    
    50   80   110   120               50    80   110    120

(7)
//now replace 32 with rightmost element i.e. 31 because 40, 50, 80, 110, 120 had been sorted. 

                   31
                /      
            32        40
         /           /      
     50     80   110    120

Now all elements are sorted: 31 , 32 , 40 , 50 , 80 , 110 , 120

Related programs:

1. Merge sorting
2. Heap sorting
3. Bubble sorting
4. Selection Sorting
5. Insertion sorting
6. Insertion sorting using function
7. Shell sorting
8. Quick sorting
9. Radix sorting
10. Liner sorting

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How To Discover Outstanding Hard Drive Shredding Austin

By Bonnie Contreras

It always is disturbing to see individuals going for the wrong hard drive shredding Austin despite the fact that a lot of information on how to get outstanding ones is available. There are those who think that they know what to do yet they comprehend almost nothing. To avoid such a aspect happening to you, you must know the factors that must be considered when in need of such alternatives.

These alternatives are often found with a lot of comfort in almost every position on the world. This has been connected to the aspect that many more individuals are coming up to offer. You therefore can predict finding someone offering them without even having to look too far. This probably is something that clients should be very pleased about.

What is important to note is that many individuals get confused by the many options instead of using them to get better results. For example, some of them even think that anything that comes their way is outstanding. This is the purpose they just choose some options without even understanding what they are getting into. Of course, this is the beginning of many problems.

Seasoned clients know that even though there always are many options that they got to create, not everything that comes their way can be outstanding. This is the purpose why they evaluate effectively the importance of everything before they choose. They do not want to get their useful cash on factors that do not even add any value to their way of life.

It is outstanding to know exactly what you need. When it comes to this, you will be surprised to know that individuals have absolutely different goals on their ideas when they start looking for these alternatives. What actually you think is the best for you maybe nowhere on the mind of another personal looking for the same aspect. You therefore must comprehend your needs.

So as to get the most appropriate ones from among the many options available, you should evaluate their importance. Just take a look at what every professional can do and how they be existing at to their clients. Even though you may not be able to talk about to all of them, you will discover it much much easier to create a wiser choice and therefore end up with outstanding alternatives.

This can be a lot easier when you have some information. For new clients, there is no way that a personal can create options without even understanding what they are analyzing. In this scenario, just try to talk about to some of the individuals who have used the alternatives before and discover out out what they have to say. Online views are also a very effective way of understanding all that relates to these alternatives.

You however should not neglect to go for quality because that is what determines the suitability of hard drive shredding Austin. It is confusing to notice that some individuals do not even appropriate fear about top great quality yet it effects everything. If you want to pay less, just compare costs.

About the Author:

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Shopping Girl Fashion

Fashion is always changing. Tracy loves shopping and she want to buy more fashion outfits. Help her try on the best outfits to make her a beautiful fashionista.

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Xbox 360 Advertising Campaign and new PS3 Model

Wow, second post of today! Saw this picture and laughed:
That is good PR. Also, Sony have announced an Elite version of the PS3 that will come with an 80gb HDD, further details yet to be announced. Has the world forgotten the Wii, Microsoft are going at Sony, and Sony at Microsoft, but the Wii is just staying out of it. It is because they dont have HD and arent even bothered. An example of this confilct is a letter Sony sent to PS3 owners:

"We think every PlayStation 3 owner should have an elite experience, which is why we include an internal hard drive and HDMI output in every PS3 we sell, along with the 50 GB of storage capacity on a high definition Blu-ray disc. Sony has been the strongest advocate of high definition as the future of next-generation gaming. This requires high-definition components, including HDMI output, and large storage devices to deliver and store all that rich and vivid HD content. Microsofts announcement today not only legitimizes Sonys PS3 strategy, it moves us closer to adopting universal standards in the area of high definition gaming that will benefit game developers and ultimately the end user."

Maybe they will destroy each other and then every game developer will have to develop for Wii.

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