MediaBlog by www.Dee-London.com

2007

In one sentence- that’s the film about the rock band Joy Division. If you never heard about Joy Division then probably the film wouldn’t really excite you. However, for Joy Division or/and art-house films fans it will be the real treat. It’s atmospheric, touching and quite authentic- there are lots to love in this drama, even if you don’t have any sentiments for this rock band itself. Did I mention that it’s in black & white?

Click here for more info about Joy Division

Surprisingly, the first geisha were actually men. Known as the Taikomochi, these men, like their later female counterparts, were expert musicians, dancers and amusing story-tellers who liked to touch upon taboo subjects. This lesser-known tradition still exists but there are now only a handful of Taikomochi still working in Japan. <…>

Modern geisha still live in traditional houses known as okiya which are situated in areas called hanamachi or ‘flower towns.’ Even more alluring is the name given to the refined, high culture world that geishas live in - this is known as karyukai or ‘flower and willow world.’ <…>

The way of the geisha has been invaluable in keeping alive centuries-old traditions. Dance, music, literature and even dress codes have been handed down directly from generation to generation in an unbroken line for over 500 years and, as such, have remained authentic and relatively unchanged. Sadly, these ‘keepers of the arts’ are dwindling in numbers; only a handful of girls apply to become maikos each year now and even fewer make it all the way through training to become fully-fledged geishas.

The full article’s here- suzukislipstream.co.uk

Yesterday I was asked to contribute some of my art photos to MadAtoms.com- that’s how I learned about “the place where nobodies create the content”. Though, the list of the contributing artists is pretty impressive and the content’s quite crazy (writings, films performances, other arts). But I’m warning you- it’s something totally opposite to “classical” & “straight forward”, so, obviously, it would be difficult to recommend it for everyone :)
So, yeah, I contributed :)
Link to the article with my photoart :)

The Official Cheat Codes
Though I don’t recommend you using them- some of them lock achievements (not to mention that it ruins the in-game atmosphere). However, they saved me lots of time when I had to re-check all 200 pigeon locations again to find one missed or not saved pigeon

4825550100 Restore Health
3625550100 Armour
4865550100 Advanced Weapon Set - Baseball Bat, Grenades, Combat Pistol, Combat Shotgun, SMG, Carbine Rifle, Combat Sniper, RPG
4865550150 Standard Weapon Set - Knife, Molotovs, Pistol, Pump Shotgun, Micro SMG, Assault Rifle, Combat Sniper, RPG
2675550100 Remove Wanted Level
2675550150 Add one star to Niko’s wanted level
4685550100 Change Weather
3595550100 Spawn an Annihilator in front of Niko
9385550100 Spawn a Jetmax in front of Niko
6255550100 Spawn an NRG-900 in front of Niko
6255550150 Spawn a Sanchez in front of Niko
2275550100 Spawn an FIB Buffalo in front of Niko
2275550175 Spawn a Comet in front of Niko
2275550147 Spawn a Turismo in front of Niko
2275550142 Spawn a Cognoscenti in front of Niko
2275550168 Spawn a SuperGT in front of Niko

Telephone calls from Niko’s friends
If you don’t want Niko to go for an activity with his friend and don’t want him to loose his friendship rating, than simply answer the phone, accept the invitation and shortly after call back and cancel the plans (a special option on the phone’s menu)

Simple way to loose Niko’s wanted level
After doing a hell mess in streets and gaining wanted levels, just take Niko to his safehouse and put him to sleep :)

Friends’ special abilities
Friends’ special abilities are unlocked when Niko’s friendship ratings are above 75%:
Roman - free taxi (who needs one in Liberty City?:)
Brucie - sends a helicopter to your location, so you can travel around the city quickly
Little Jacob- brings all the essential weapons (except RPGs) near you- and the prices are 2x cheaper than in ‘official’ shop! (That’s the essential in-game feature!)
Dwayne - sends 2 mobs in a car for a gunfire support
Packie - brings near you a car bomb. You can attach it to any car and explode later using the mobile phone
Stevie - he will buy all the cars from Niko
Francis - he can remove Niko’s wanted level
Carmen - she can restore Niko’s health through a phone conversation
Kiki - she can remove up to 3 stars wanted level
Alex - 50% off at all clothing stores (for a limited time after a date)

Dial 911 if your car’s engine stopped working and it will start again!

P.S. It’s impossible to list all the features in one blog post. Buy the official guide book instead- this game is worth in-depth exploration!

Well, it’s not a video game, but it’s something much more unusual- that’s a web browser based strategy MMO (sort of):
www.Ikariam.org
The gameplay mechanics are obviously inspired by Age of Empire. Surprisingly, graphics look even better than the first AOE, though it doesn’t use neither Flash nor other plugins- that’s a purely HTML based game. On top of that you’re competing and/or interacting with other real players. That said, I should warn that the game is not any action or real time strategy game- it’s more like a distraction during a busy day (like emails).
The bottom line is that I was amazed by the nearly-genius concept and positively surprised by the presentation quality.