The Hæven of John™

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter - Official Trailer

2012-02-16T17:28:25-08:00

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a 2012 American 3D supernatural horror film based on the 2010 mashup novel Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. The film is directed by Timur Bekmambetov and is produced by Bekmambetov and Tim Burton. The novel’s author, Seth Grahame-Smith, wrote the adapted screenplay. The real-life figure Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States (1861–1865), is fictionally portrayed in the novel and the film as having a secret identity as a vampire hunter. Benjamin Walker stars as Lincoln. Filming began in Louisiana in March 2011, and the film is being produced in 3D. It is scheduled to be released on June 22, 2012.

Description source: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (film)

Latest IU Video Showcase Plus Bonus

2012-02-16T16:21:56-08:00

Why I'm Still Not Ditching My AIM/AOL Messenger Account

2012-02-14T04:08:02-08:00

Back in 2^nd quarter of 2011 Google and AOL rolled-out their Google Talk and AIM interoperability feature. Meaning, users can add and communicate to users of the other network, similar to what then “MSN Messenger” (now “WLM“) and Yahoo! Messenger did years back.

It was great news in the Instant Messenger ("IM") world. Interoperability between separate networks is a must have today, especially when it comes to doing business globally. Imagine one IM account that can communicate with other IM networks, bliss right?

Yes.

Unfortunately, for Google Talk and AIM interoperability project, it isn’t. In a few months time, it will be a year already since they opened their doors to each other but the feature is still plague with bugs.

Bugs reported were: [1] contacts disappearing; [2] online/offline status not getting detected/shown correctly; [3] adding/invite/request-to-add not getting received by the other party; and even [4] failed communication or receiving of messages on both ends.

I tried it earlier today and I can only say that these bugs are still there. It is random, so if you’re lucky you will have a smooth sail. Personally, I doubt that the problem is on Google’s side, no, I think it is on AOL’s side.

Google Talk uses XMPP (f. Jabber), which have a built-in system for federating to other XMPP/Jabber networks. Closed-networks like AIM, WLM, and FBchat have been experimenting with it (though FBchat and WLM end-result and purpose is different). And AOL have been experimenting with it far longer than WLM and FBchat. This is the result of their efforts to translate AIM’s language to XMPP language. The bridge is on AOL’s side not Google’s.

Which could explain why Google Apps users (like me) can not use the interoperability feature. AIM probably whitelisted the @gmail.com domain only. Which also explains why despite the bug reports to Google, things are not getting better. All Google could probably do is forward the reports to AOL’s engineers.

That is why I am still not deleting my AIM account. The interoperabiliy is:

limited to @gmail.com domain only; and
still buggy

I hope one day I can say: “1 less IM account to maintain yet a million users gained". Oh, AOL should include ICQ ("I-Seek-You") as well, I have many contacts there too and it isn’t dead as most people assume.

Dream High 2 Pilot Episodes

2012-02-03T02:18:38-08:00

I just finished watching episodes 1 & 2 of Dream High 2 and I was a little bit disappointed with the pilot episodes. The show airs on KBS2 every Mondays and Tuesdays at 9:55pm Korean Time (UTC+0900), which will have a total of 16 episodes just like Dream High before it.

The story of Dream High 2 is set three (3) years after the Dream High 1 batch graduated from Kirin Arts High School. The school deteriorated into a low type school that barely produces talented graduates. After the government of Korea passed a law requiring underaged K-pop celebrities to complete at least 20 hours of school and no working by 10:00 in the evening, Oz Entertainment decided to buy Kirin Arts and put their idols there.

This quickly turned into a Kirin Arts students vs. Oz Entertainment idols. But that’s not what disappointed me but rather that the first two episodes was reeking of Dream High characters. Take for example the character Shin Hae-Sung played by actress Kang So-Ra.

Shin Hae-Sung is every bit a clone of Kim Pil Suk (played by IU). A typical girl who is soo much in love with a handsome guy that doesn’t see her the same way she does. Naive, simple, and has a knack on things that makes them weird – in a good way. The only thing that differs between these two characters is the Pil Suk is has a talent in composing and singing while Hae-Sung is a complete opposite.

Then there was also the Hyun Si Hyuk aka Jin Guk (played by 2PM’s Taecyeon) and Jason (played by 2PM’s Wooyoung) rivalry in Dream High duplicated in this new batch of students. A rivalry, though of a different reason, between Jang Woo Jae aka JB (played by actor Im Jae Bum aka JB) and Jin Yoo-Jin (played by 2AM’s Jinwoon). Although Jin Guk and Jason’s rivalry didn’t last long, JB and Yoo-Jin will probably stretch all throughout season 2.

But it is not without any positives. In fact, I have high hopes for Dream High 2 to be at par or exceed Dream High 1. I am expecting to see more in-depth character development and storyline twists in this season. For one, some of these new students were already K-pop idols.

The group Eden that’s composed of JB and Si Woo (played by actor Park Seo Joon) are one of the most popular already. They themselves, as it appeared in the pilot episodes, were students of Kirin Arts High School but for some reason they left early to form their group. Now they’re back to finish their “High School” which at the same time, they are at odds with each other.

How these idols and original students will solve their differences and compete with each other to be the top, is more than enough to pique my interest. I’m hopeful that the show will get better just like how it was when I started watching Dream High 1.

The main cast of Dream High 2 are:

Actress Kang So-Ra as “Shin Hae-Sung”
2AM’s Jinwoon as “Jin Yoo-Jin”
T-ara’s Park Ji-Yeon as “Rian”
SISTAR’s Hyorin as “Nana”
Actor Im Jae Bum “JB” as “Jang Woo Jae ‘JB’
Actor Park Seo Joon as “Si Woo”

With others like:

Former After School’s Yoo So-Young as “Park Soon-Dong”
After School’s Kahi as Dance Instructor “Hyun Ji-Soo”
JY Entertainment owner J.Y. Park recurring his role as Instructor “Yang Jin Man”
and many others…

One Magic Moment by Lynn Kurland

2012-01-31T23:35:01-08:00

There’s no time like the present…
…If you’re running from the past.

One Magic Moment is the latest in the “de Piaget – MacLeod” world created by author Lynn Kurland. It is a historical romance book - and don’t dismissed it just because, the world of the de Piaget’s and MacLeod’s is full of paranormal, adventure, time travel, drama, and chivalrous knights-in-shining-armour.

Kurland’s books are for all types of readers, for all fans of different genres. Exactly what got me hook, and was the bridge for me to start reading romance - particularly historical romance books.

One Magic Moment is the story about Tess Alexander and John de Piaget. Published on May 3, 2011, Lynn Kurland continues the story of the Alexander sisters (which started in One Enchanted Evening) and the de Piaget brothers (numerous books to list).

This is the first “latest” (in publication and timeline) book I have read in the de Piaget – MacLeod world and having read a few of the earliest stories, I felt like I missed a lot. For in OMM, a lot of the characters from previous books either made an appearance or was mentioned in passing, and I can’t help but wonder about their stories.

However, that’s what I like with Kurland, her books are all stand-alone. One does not need to start from some earlier publication to grasp and get inside her creations. Whenever characters from previous stories were mentioned or made an appearance, no critical information is included that will only make the reader feel like having missed something important.

In this book, the story tell of the lives of Tess Alexander – who lives in our time; and John de Piaget – who was from the 13^th century. Two characters trapped in a world trying to forget their past, their pains. Tess having lost her sister to a marriage with John’s twin brother Montgomery and chose to live in 1214. And John who had a row with his father and lord of Artane castle, Rhys de Piaget; and secondly, trapped in our time, no means of going back.

He looked at her in silence for several long moments, then took a step backward. And then he sank to one knee.

John took a deep breath. “Tess", he bagan slowly, sounding a little more nervous than she’d ever heard him sound, “I have little to offer you –”

“Besides a Vanquish", Jake put in, sounding disgusted, “and no doubt numerous Swiss safe-deposit boxes overflowing with cash.”

John shot his brother-in-law a warning look, then turned back to her. “I have a few quid", he conceded, “which means nothing in either century except that I’ll be able to provide for you as you deserve. I vow I will shield you with my name, protect you with my sword, and sheepdog you until you beg me to stop.” He paused, then looked at her seriously. “I want forever, Tess.”

One Magic Moment: Chapter 25. Pages 299 & 300

It was a play worth rereading, a play between two people knowing who the other one is and a person who wants to hide his true identity. Yet deep inside they both long for each others embrace and touch, but afraid they’ll both run away if they find out the secrets they both were hiding.

Although it sounds like a typical story, especially if you have read Kurland’s other books like Dreams of Stardust, OMM still stands out and presented itself as a fresh story that will make one wish he or she is one of the two main characters. In fact, this is the first romantic book that I was able to connect to a female character. Her dreams, her wishes, her desires, the world from her eyes.

Near the end, the two characters were thrown back in the time of John de Piaget. This pulled out the best in Tess Alexander - our modern lady. Even though she is a scholar with degrees in Medieval Studies, it still did not save her from the shock of reality in breathing and living in medieval England. Yet she showed her strength both physically by enduring the stress, and mentally by staying sane, despite the fact that she almost died in the 13^th century.

John on the other hand finally embraced his reality, his “present time". This coming-at-peace-with-yourself enabled him to tackle clearly the problems they are facing as well as being able to protect the love of his life - Tess. Having stopped denying his true identity, it only made him face the dangers and hardship of his life - medieval or modern England.

Finally but not the least, the way the previous characters were presented made me love this book even more. The joy of seeing Jake Kilchurn and Amanda de Piaget Kilchurn from the book Dreams of Stardust; Montgomery de Piaget and Pippa Alexander de Piaget from One Enchanted Evening; Nicholas de Piaget and Jennifer MacLeod McKinnon de Piaget from When I Fall in Love; to mention a few, kind of updated the reader to what happened to these couples after their story ended in their respective book publications.

For example, in Dreams of Stardust, the story ended with Jake Kilchurn and Amanda de Piaget getting married and moving to their own castle. In One Magic Moment when they made their appearance, I was glad to see that Jake, being the man from our time, have successfully adjusted to living in the 13^th century, as a number one painter and gem-cutter, as a great husband to Amanda de Piaget, and as a loving father to their kids. Their kids who were only mentioned in DoS while Kendrick de Piaget was telling the genealogy of the couple.

I give this book a 10 out of 10 stars. Highly recommended for your reading pleasure and adventure. Buy One Magic Moment here.

Thank you to my lovely girlfriend, Sherlene, for this book gift.

GO Suite: Launcher EX, Contacts EX, SMS Pro, Keyboard, Locker

2012-01-28T08:23:09-08:00

Everytime I buy a new gadget (or install a new OS) is to replace the default applications. For my Android Samsung Galaxy Y GT-S5360 smartphone, I immediately searched for a replacement of the default “SMS", “Contacts", “Dialer", “Launcher", and “Keyboard” apps that comes with it.

I found GO Launcher EX (which comes with GO Store & GO Widget), GO Contacts EX (which comes with GO Dialer EX), GO SMS Pro, GO Keyboard, and GO Locker. I never looked back since.

GO Launcher EX

GO Launcher EX is the replacement for the default launcher that comes with Android. A “launcher” is the software (or application) that serves as your desktop and app drawer (or “program files” if you are a Microsoft® Windows user). It is what you always see and use.

The default is simple and it was left to the manufacturers and Android enthusiasts to develop their custom or better launcher, in effect creating an Android community and ecosystem. You, of course, want to have a better launcher right?

Some of the features are:

3 Dock rows
Screen and App drawer transition effects
App drawer search field
App drawer folders
App locking
App hiding
Better app sorting
Close all running apps
App history

Install GO Launcher EX via the official Android Market;
Get new themes here.

GO Contacts EX (with GO Dialer EX)

GO Contacts EX replaces the default contacts/phonebook app of Android. Although the default is more than enough for the average user, the added features that comes with this will surely convince anyone to download this replacement app.

Themes
Better Contact-Group management
Favorite contacts
SMS all
Email all
Backup contacts to SD
Restore contacts from SD
Transition effects

GO Contacts EX also comes with GO Dialer EX which replaces the default dialer of Android. Not much is different between GO Dialer EX and the default dialer that I noticed, except the ability to change the theme of your dialer.

Install GO Contacts EX via the official Android Market;
Get new themes here.

Continue to page 2…

Or go back to: myAndroid Hub

Resident Evil 5: Retribution

2012-01-23T04:29:53-08:00

My name is JC and this is my world…

Opens on September 14, 2012, with a 3D version.

My ideas about Biohazard 5 movie I posted in September 2010, you can read here. And my review of Resident Evil 4: Afterlife here.

[Video] Live-Action Slam Dunk Opening Sequence

2012-01-19T21:21:57-08:00