Day: July 29, 2014

Heroes of The Storm early look: Blizzard’s DoTA & LoL

Bob Freking Leave a comment

MOBA games initially gained traction as a mod to Blizzard games like StarCraft & Warcraft, ending up being called DoTA. Valve picked it up with DoTA 2, and surely, it has inspired companies such as Riot Games to come up with League of Legends. Those games never appealed to me for some reason, but I decided to give it a try anyway; that’s when Blizzard invited me to play technical alpha to their upcoming game Heroes of the Storm.

Note: As of writing, I am testing version 0.5.0.31360. Gameplay elements may change with my opinions upon final release.

HeroesOfTheStorm

I’m pretty much into StarCraft II, Hearthstone and a little bit of Diablo, and while I don’t play Warcraft, I’m already introduced to their characters through Hearthstone. Basically, if you’re into Blizzard’s games, then it won’t be hard to convince you to play HoTS, as most of the characters you love are already here. If not, I’m still sure having Diablo, Warcraft and StarCraft characters in one game is kickass.

HeroesOfTheStorm

“Having Diablo, Warcraft and StarCraft characters in one game is kickass.”

Heroes, skins and a lot more can be purchased using gold, but if you want to speed things up, you can always pay for it in cash. They’ve given players a chance to try out all the heroes and their differentiated skills and abilities, and so far, they’re all really fun to play with. Heroes are assigned labels for their specialization and difficulty of use to guide players, and I think that’s a nice touch. Lots of balancing and updates are still probably on the way before the release, but as for the experience, it’s all good.

talents

“You level up as a team so no one gets left behind.”

So here’s the setup: it’s five versus five and your main objective is to destroy the opponent’s core / base. Depending on your map, there are things that you must do to gain an advantage, all of which will require teamwork. Also, you level up as a team so no one gets left behind. Every time you level up to a specific level, you get to pick which talents to receive which will add power to your hero. You should also choose which is appropriate for your strategy.

HeroesOfTheStorm

And you can ride unicorns!

There are no shops and items in game, and I cannot express how much I love that as that was the one of the things that screwed my mind up when I tried playing DoTA. The things that add complexity here are the maps and how your team is going to be efficient in balancing the happenings around the map. There will be objectives for you to accomplish, and if you do it all well better than your opponent team, the Raven Lord, the Dragon Knight or whatever will help you try to win. You can also gain the help of mercenaries and watch towers around the map if you need more support.

With the latest update to the alpha, we got a new playable hero (Rehgar), a new map and a few more additions such as artifacts. At the moment, I have not played with artifacts as I need to rank 15 to unlock it, but going through forums, it is not happily received and is often compared to League of Legends’ runes. Seeing negative feedback, Blizzard may have to do something about it in a future update before the final release.

“You’re not allowed to chat with the opposing team – probably to avoid trash-talking.”

As for the speed and the graphics, I have had no problems with it. The animations may look like it’s too cartoon, and while some may not like that, I find it okay as it doesn’t keep the game’s tone too serious. And speaking of serious, you’re not allowed to chat with the opposing team – probably to avoid trash-talking. The only people who can call you noob or weak now are your own teammates, and for me that’s a good thing as it allows you to focus on teamwork, and it’s a similar formula used by Blizzard in Hearthstone, not allowing players to chat unless you’re friends.

For the most part, I think it is as simple as that; it’s the simplicity that differentiates Heroes of The Storm from League of Legends, DoTA or mostly any other MOBA game. I let other people play through my account as well – people who don’t play MOBAs and they found themselves enjoying it. Heroes of The Storm is ultimately a MOBA for those who don’t play MOBAs, and we have yet to see how the final version will be when it comes out soon.

The post Heroes of The Storm early look: Blizzard’s DoTA & LoL appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

American Potato Salad

celia kusinera Leave a comment
American Potato Salad
It's summer and it's barbecue time. That means potato salads are very much in demand in our household nowadays. This one that I adapted from Cook's Illustrated's The New Best Recipe cookbook is like any ordinary potato salad except it's made so much better with the addition of vinegar while the potatoes are still warm. It permeates the starchy potatoes and gives it so much more flavour. If you leave it in the fridge for a few hours before serving the flavour improves further.


American Potato Salad

1 kg  salad or waxy potatoes (Charlotte, Jersey, etc.) - scrubbed clean
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3 medium hard boiled eggs - peeled and diced
1 celery rib - minced
2 Tbsp minced red onion
1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp minced fresh parsley leaves
  1. Put potatoes in a pot and add enough water to cover up to 1-inch above the potatoes.
  2. Bring to boil; turn down heat and simmer potatoes until done (a knife poked in the middle would easily pierce all the way through). This would take around 15-20 minutes for small potatoes and 25-30 minutes for medium ones.
  3. Drain and leave to cool just enough to peel and cut into large chunks.
  4. Toss in vinegar, salt , pepper. It is important to add in the vinegar while the potatoes are very warm so that it will absorb it well.
  5. Cover and cool completely (about 20 minutes). You may put this in the fridge while cooling.
  6. Add all other ingredients, toss to mix well, and season more with salt and ground black pepper if needed.
  7. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for next day serving.

Aquino accepts SC decision on DAP, submits supplemental budget

Ellen Leave a comment

President Aquino delivers his 5th SONA

President Aquino delivers his 5th SONA


By Ellen T.Tordesillas, VERA Files

President Aquino asked Congress approval of a supplemental budget Malacanang is submitting in what many see as compliance to the Supreme Court ruling of the Disbursement Acceleration Program as unconstitutional, a departure from his earlier combative stance.

Related story:

People’s SONA: Boss ‘fires’ PNoy

In his 5th State of the Nation Address Monday, President Aquino said they had had to suspend a number of projects “to make certain that we remain in accordance with the Supreme Court’s decision on the Disbursement Acceleration Program, or DAP.”

“This is why: We are proposing the passage of a supplemental budget for 2014, so that the implementation of our programs and projects need not be compromised,” he said.

Aquino also called on Congress for the passage of a Joint Resolution that will bring clarity to the definitions and ideas still being debated upon, and to the other issues that only you in the legislature—as the authors of our laws—can shed light on.

It will be recalled that in the SC’s decision of DAP, it pointed out that the “withdrawal of unobligated allotment from the implementing agencies and the declaration of the withdrawn, unobligated allotments and unreleased appropriations as savings prior to the end of the fiscal year and without complying with the statutory definition of savings contained in the GAA” is unconstitutional.

Aquino also said that they will be submitting immediately to Congress “ the proposed 2.606 trillion peso National Budget of 2015.”

For the rest of the President’s SONA 2014, please visit:
http://www.gov.ph/2014/07/28/english-benigno-s-aquino-iii-fifth-state-of-the-nation-address-july-28-2014/

Toyota goes Psy with Waku Doki viral video

Abe Olandres Leave a comment

You have to give it to the Japanese to come up with crazy video commercials like the Waku Doki. Toyota is banking on the new campaign to signify that Waku Dokie feeling (which means an exciting adrenaline rush) when driving their cars.

wakudoki

The video ad shows Japanese men in crisp suits driving a Toyota Hilux into the jungle. They go out of the vehicle and gets scared by a gorilla only to jump into action and dance the wacky “waku doki” moves.

To get a better picture of what we’re talking about, here’s a copy of that video.

You have to agree that the dance video has a certain ring to it (perhaps akin to the Psy-style dance moves) that can easily become viral.

Thus, Toyota is adding a bit of a twist to this campaign and asking people to submit their own dance moves inspired by Waku Doki.

Watch the video and practice your own moves, then go to their website or download the Waku Doki app (just search for it in the iTunes App Store). Start recording your dance moves with the song in the background and upload it.

Winners will be sent to Tokyo, Japan for an all-expense paid vacation (there will be 16 round 1 winners with Urbeats Beats by Dr.Dre each and a grand winner wins a trip to Tokyo for 5 days for two).

You can go to the Waku Doki website here to submit your entries.

The post Toyota goes Psy with Waku Doki viral video appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

The Chicken Tikka Masala that Helped Me Find Meaning

Lauren Dado Leave a comment

Do you ever have one of these days where life feels like a pointless exercise in the never-ending struggle to find meaning? Well I was having one of those weeks. I usually jump out of bed with purpose when my alarm goes off, but at the height of my depressive spell, I’d spend a good 10 minutes staring at my ceiling, willing myself to get up. I know that life, however meaningless it sometimes gets, would be infinitely worse if I ditched work and stay burrowed under my blankets. But there has to be a more compelling reason to make it out of bed other than the fear of disappointing your coworkers and not wanting deadlines to pile up.

I don’t know why I sometimes I feel this way, and I’ve been driving myself crazy trying to understand why. All I know it keeps visiting me, the feeling that each day is another stage to play out the empty charade that is my existence, and I keep charade-ing on in the hopes that one day, I will wake up feeling like running towards life and love and meaning with arms wide open.

existentially despairingExistentially despairing

One Friday afternoon, I RSVP’ed to a college buddy’s birthday party in an attempt to get out of my head. The thought of reconnecting with old friends usually excites me, but as 5 pm drew nearer I started feeling FOMO towards sleep. Actually, the parts of me that were still awake wondered if I should bother when I felt too tired for social niceties. Plus what if I meet someone new? Ugh. The last thing I want is to fixate on some guy who shows me the least bit of attention.

I decided to go anyway, but not without heading home for a quick nap. As my tummy rumbled in EDSA traffic, I thought about how I hadn’t touched the groceries I bought on Monday. Then for the first time all week, I felt genuinely excited, because I remembered buying ingredients for chicken tikka masala, and I had enough time to make some before getting my party on.

Let me tell you all about chicken tikka masala. It’s my favorite thing to eat in THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. Chunks of soft chicken breast marinated in a tangy mix of Indian spices, then made to simmer in a creamy yogurt-tomato sauce. Oh my God. It is the best thing ever. If you ever find yourself in an Indian restaurant, order a bowl of CTM plus some garlic naan to mop the leftover sauce up.  Your life is instantly better. You’re welcome.

plane to san francisco

Chicken tikka masala came into my life at the height of my first real heartbreak. In my early twenties, I flew to San Francisco to see my long-distance boyfriend, only to learn that he wasn’t very interested in being my boyfriend anymore. Too heartbroken to make the most out of my trip, I spent a few days moping around the hostel, stepping out only to buy coffee and cigarettes. Eventually, I befriended the receptionist, a new transplant from the east coast who listened sympathetically to my how-could-he’s and why-is-this-happening-to-me’s.

We ended up exploring the city together during his days off, and once wandered into Indian restaurant after an afternoon of aimless walking.

“Order anything,” I said. “I don’t know what to get.”

He brought back a fragrant bowl of chicken tikka masala with garlic naan, and I observed as he tore off a piece of the flatbread and dipped it into the sauce. I followed suit, and from that first bite my palate was forever changed. Choirs of angels sang in my head as my taste buds tried to make sense out of the strange new flavors coating my tongue and the insides of my mouth. I’m no good at describing what food tastes like, but I can tell you that the sauce’s comforting warmth somehow made its way to my soul, which felt a little less sad and wounded with each bite. I smiled at my new friend across the table and he smiled back, and that made me feel better too.

 chicken tikka masala 2Photo credit: seriouseats.com

Because of this, chicken tikka masala is more than just the best-tasting dish I have ever had in my life. It’s the gastronomical equivalent of a hug from a good friend. It’s a delicious reminder that no matter how bad things get, everything will be just fine in the end.

Once I made it home, I threw myself into prepping my dinner. Soon, I had my stew simmering on the stove and filling the apartment with all sorts of spicy aromas. And as I sat waiting for the sauce to thicken, I felt content for the first time in weeks. There I was, marking the passage of time with cigarettes, enjoying the Spotify-curated jazz music in the background, and waiting for my self-prepared dinner to reach its desired consistency and flavor. What more could I ask for?

Needless to say, I missed out on my friend’s awesome birthday party, but I don’t regret staying in one bit. More than learning to cook chicken tikka masala, that evening taught me how to do this “taking care of myself” thing my friends keep telling me about. I used to think that this meant yoga or massages, and I rejected the concept because I don’t really do these things.

But as I licked the bowl clean of masala sauce, I realized that “taking care of yourself” means doing little acts of kindness to yourself without being self-destructive. It’s learning to work around your flaws instead of hating yourself for it. It’s accepting the fact things don’t always work out, but that it’s not always your fault that life is shit and people suck sometimes. And as long as you can make your favorite dish in the whole wide world to cheer yourself up, everything will be all right, and life might not be as meaningless as you make it out to be.

chicken tikka masala 3

BONUS: Lauren’s Lazy Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

To make your own chicken tikka masala, all you need are four things:

1) chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces
2) an onion, coarsely chopped
3) plain yogurt
4) a tikka masala spice packet (what, did you think I actually made this from scratch?)

Step 1: read the instructions on the spice packet, backwards and forwards, until you’re sure there is no way you can fuck up the dish

Step 2: marinate the chicken with whatever’s in the spice packet for 15-20 minutes

Step 3: stir-fry chopped onion until soft

Step 4: add the marinated meat, stir-fry for a bit. Add the recommended amount of water indicated in the spice packet, and 3 tablespoons of yogurt.

Step 5: the sauce will appear watery and gross. Let it simmer until the sauce reaches your desired consistency. This takes me about 20-30 minutes.

Step 6: serve straight from the stove while it’s piping hot. Consider investing in a tiny metal bowl, because chicken tikka masala cools down very quickly.