Last Thursday, I took the test. Everything went very well.

The test is administered on a computer that adapts to your skill level. The GMAT is designed so that test takers will miss around 50% of the questions. As a person answers more questions correctly, the GMAT adjusts the difficulty of its questions to maintain that 50% correct/incorrect ratio. At the end of the test, the computer looks the test taker’s final difficulty level to assess the score rather than at the number of questions answered correctly.

There are three sections on the test: essays, quantitative (math), and verbal (reading). Going into the test, I was most concerned about the quantitative section. The questions range in difficulty from geometry to combinatorics and I was worried because I hadn’t taken a math class since AP Calculus in junior year of high school (which was almost 10 years ago)!

The verbal section was easy for me because the logic questions and reading passages were basically similar in style to the questions on the LSAT, except shorter.

In the last three months, I abandoned my social life and dedicated myself to relearning math and clearing out all the cobwebs in the quantitative part of my brain. When I first started my review, my math skills were very rusty. My GMAT diagnostic scores were in the 500 range (generally between 530 and 580). My math score was in the 30s.  I was determined to raise my score by 100 points.

To study, I purchased a copy of the The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition from the local Borders in Sunnyvale and completed all of the questions over a period of 4 weeks. I also paid $1,000 for a Manhattan GMAT course to take advantage of their 6 computer adaptive diagnostic exams, strategy guides, and 10-class curriculum. Finally, I practiced my timing with two free tests on MBA.com.

I also chatted with current business school students about their GMAT experience. Their study advice helped me regain confidence. When I started averaging 650 on my diagnostics, I took the plunge and registered for the test.

Having a doomsday clock actually helped me study harder.

I took a week off before the test date to clear my head and remove myself from distractions. I set up an intense study schedule that basically repeated the following pattern: 1 day of diagnostic tests followed by 1 day of review. Since my test was on a Thursday, I took a diagnostic test on the previous Friday and reviewed the answers on Saturday. Then I took another diagnostic test on Sunday and reviewed it on Monday. I repeated this on Tuesday and Wednesday. I didn’t want to take tests on consecutive days because I was afraid I would burn out and glaze over the actual test.

My diagnostic tests from MBA.com were very good predictors of my actual score. On the two tests, I scored a 730 and 770. My final score was in-between.

I consistently scored lower on the Manhattan GMAT diagnostics. However, I figured the diagnostics were designed to be more challenging than the actual test in order to better prepare students. I found those diagnostic tests very useful for identifying my weak points.

At the end of three months, my score increased not by 100 points, but by 200 points.

If you’re contemplating taking the GMAT and are afraid that math will be too challenging, don’t fret. If you have the willpower to study, study, study, it’s definitely possible to attain your desired score. Just remember to do a lot of diagnostic tests and focus on improving your weakest areas. Most importantly, stay positive.

This little experiment all started when I learned that Blizzard released a Chinese-language version of StarCraft II in Asia. The version is fully localized and dubbed in Mandarin. And when I say fully, I mean ever road sign and background poster has been redone in Chinese. The developers spared no expense in their attempt to penetrate the China market.

Before you ask, there is no Japanese version. Japan remains the land of the consoles and handhelds. However, there is a Korean version. It makes sense because everybody in South Korea with a PC has played StarCraft. And if you’re living in South Korea, you’ve probably socially connected to somebody who at one point or another has contemplated becoming a professional gamer.

Anyway, on to the translations:

Apparently, the term Zergling translates to xiao gou, which means little dog. Anyone familiar with StarCraft II know that the Zerglings are not dogs. But I seriously doubt the millions of Chinese gamers playing in cafes care about the lore. For those who do care about the lore, Zerglings are evolved from the Zz’gash dune runners. (I had to search for it on the StarCraft Wiki.)

Yes, you can even translate Raynor into Chinese. It translates to basically a three-syllable phonetic spelling of Raynor.

What about the Mutalisk? It’s called fei long, which means flying dragon.

The Protoss are known as shenzu, or god-race. If you’re wondering what the Terrans are called, they’re renzu (human race). The Zerg are known as chongzu (insects).

Anyway, I thought it was impressive that Google Translate understood the contextual meaning behind the StarCraft II terms and translated them correctly. Of course, I didn’t have success with every term. For example, when I searched for ‘marine,’ the translation in Chinese was for ocean. I had to search for ‘terran marine’ to get the correct translation. But that’s to be expected.

Before I go, I did have one final observation to share. In the regular English version of the game, the SCVs and Marines can be disrespectful to you when you give them orders. “What do you want?” “Alright, I’m going.” They seem downright hostile to the idea of having to work. In contrast, the SCVs and Marines in the Chinese version sound happy and excited to work when you order them around. It surprised me at first. But after thinking about it for a bit, I can understand why the change was made.

If I were an overzealous government regulatory committee member, I’d be pretty skeptical about exposing six million people to a game where the most common worker units endlessly complain about working. I’m not saying that the decision is right or even that such a discussion ever took place. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the developers took that into consideration when they localized the game.

By the way, here’s the game’s installer recap in Mandarin.

• Heroes VI is a prequel to Heroes V and takes place 400 years in the past
• There are 5 factions in the game (Haven, Inferno, Necropolis have been confirmed so far)
• Two hero classes per faction, one might one magic
• Exploration, artifacts, and overall gameplay will stay the same
• Combat system has indeed reverted to ‘turns’ rather than initiative
• New boss battles
• Three of the secondary resources (mercury, gemstones, and sulfur) have been removed from the game because the designers want more players to fight for the same resources
• City-specific screens have been changed (or removed); cities are more dynamic and customizable?
• You can now completely convert enemy towns to your faction after you’ve captured them
• 50% of creatures are new (e.g. ghouls and juggernauts) while many classic creatures have been retired (e.g. trolls, gremlins, and gnolls)

It’s wonderful to wake up one morning, scan some gaming sites, and realize that your favorite game series is coming out with another title. As you can imagine, my morning was filled with jubilation.

There hasn’t been a lot of solid information revealed about the game beyond a few screenshots and a teaser video. But here are my thoughts based on the marketing materials that have been floating around.

Branding

In an effort to unify the Heroes franchise, Ubisoft is calling the game Might & Magic: Heroes VI. I have nothing against this decision. But it will be strange to refer to the game as MMHVI. I think the game will always be HOMMVI (Heroes of Might and Magic VI) to me.

Setting

Based on the preview video, Gamescom teaser, and screenshots, it appears the game will take place in Ashan. However, the time period with respect to Heroes V and Dark Messiah remains a mystery. From the screenshots, we can see familiar Haven units along with a Necropolis hero. The spider logo of the Necromancers is also present.

Graphics

At first glance, the game appears to use the same engine as Heroes V. However, I noticed an improvement in both the water effects and the foliage. The shadow effects also look cleaner. I guess we won’t know if the engine is new or not until the developers release more information at Gamescom. All I ask is that the game feels snappy and responsive. Gameplay in Heroes V often felt laggy and unresponsive, even on high-end computers.

Resources

The most jarring thing (for me) in the new screenshots has to be the lack of gemstones, sulfur, and mercury in the resource bar. I really, really hope the developers didn’t remove those resources from the game. But if they did, it was probably to simplify the gameplay and make it more accessible to new users. However, removing three of the seven classic Heroes resources severely weakens a lot of the game’s strategy with respect to guarding strategic mines, marketplace trading, etc.

Story/Writing

The developers appear to have streamlined the game’s user interface. There’s now more room for flavor and story text in the game. I’m also glad they got rid of that horrible Monotype Corsiva font.

With a screenshot, there’s obviously no way to tell if Svetlana actually speaks the lines we see on the screen. Hopefully, her voice actress is not terrible. I’ve always been a bigger fan of reading than listening. After all the ‘Griffin Eternal’ nonsense from the last game, I’d be happy if all the heroes stayed mute this time around.

As for the writing itself, it’s difficult to judge the quality of the game’s story on one paragraph of text. But the dialog here sounds more professional than what’s in Heroes V. Looks like somebody hired a copy editor.

Minimap

The lower-left controls  have been simplified. The towns can now be cycled through with the arrows above the minimap. This reduces the clutter and allows you to see more of the overworld map. The hero portraits line up to the right and are smaller than before. The blue bar depicts the hero’s remaining spell points. The green bar depicts the hero’s remaining movement points. I’m guessing the number 30 below the portrait is the hero’s level.

The artwork seems a lot less cartoony this time around. There’s a definite ‘classic fantasy’ feel to the portraits of both the heroes and the creatures. It reminds me of King’s Bounty, which is not a bad thing at all.

Hero Controls

The controls have been slightly modified as well, but largely for aesthetic purposes. In the middle, the large hourglass is obviously to end turns. The units surrounding the hourglass represent the day of the week. As for the buttons, you can see the overground/underground toggle on the very top, followed by a kingdom overview, movement confirmation, and settings. I’m guessing the two locked buttons allow you to cast a spell on the overworld map and to dig for the Tear of Asha.

Battles

The battle screen looks fancier than before thanks to the crisp new user interface.

The battlefield keeps the grid from Heroes VI instead of reverting back to hexes. However, I noticed that there’s a ‘Turn 1′ indicator at the very top. Perhaps we’re back to taking turns rather than relying completely the unit speed to determine order of action.

At the bottom left of the battle screen, you can see the hero’s portrait along with two buttons: defend and skip turn. To the right, there’s the order of unit turns. The Haven units represented here are griffins and archers. On the Necropolis side, I’m not sure what the units are. The glowing female is most likely a ghost. The creature with the green eyes is not a vampire. It may very well be the lich. The creature on the very left is a mystery. The in-game model shows a strange bound zombie with claws. Some kind of ghoul?

Below that are what appears to be spells. Either the number of spells  have been severely reduced in the game or the game queues up your most recently used spells so you don’t have to dig through your spell book every time.

The command options seen on the lower right corner of the battle screen are most likely (counting clockwise): cast spell, unit info, auto-battle, surrender, battle options, and uh… two mysterious Necromancer abilities. I’m also unsure what the skull in the middle is supposed to do. Perhaps the Necromancers have some kind of mass netherworld attack that can only be used when the gauge fills up. This is all speculation of course.

Anyway, I’m very excited by these screenshots and can’t wait to learn more. Ubisoft, hurry and release the unit rosters! All the Heroes fans are going to buy the game anyway. There’s no use beating around the bush.

Links:
Screenshots taken from Heroes Community forum

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA78MQf-kMY

One Winged Angel and Soulja Boy? Hey, it kind of works!

Here are the choices I made the first time around:

1. Burned the civilians
2. Sided with Nova
3. Disabled zerg air units

As for the technology decisions, here’s what I chose:

Protoss Tech

1. Increased attack speed over additional defense
OPINION: Either one would have been fine. I chose the attack speed boost after realizing my play style was 90% offense, 10% defense. (Note: This is also why I suck on Battle.net). Since I had medics and SCVs follow my squads to repair any damage they sustained, it was less important to take the defense boost.

2. Instant supply depots over faster refinery production
OPINION: I’m very happy with my decision. The instant supply depots helped me tremendously in later missions because I could grab a single SCV, plop down 5-6 supply depots, and send him back to work. On the other hand, I had more gas than I knew what to do with. So the faster refinery production wouldn’t have helped me at all.

3.  Automated refineries over 2x SCV training
OPINION: Again, I’m very happy to have chosen the automated refineries. It freed up a lot of SCVs for mineral harvesting and also allowed me to go around maps and just build extra refineries without having to worry about the consequences. There was really no need for me to pump out extra SCVs, ever.

4. Science Vessels over Ravens
OPINION: I never used a single Science Vessel. Next time I’ll have to research the Raven.

5. Combined Tech Lab/Reactor over drop pods
OPINION: I picked the Tech Lab combo over the drop pods for a very simple reason: I never build reactors, period. Who needs two Marines being trained at the same time? I need Marauders, dammit! With this upgrade, I could finally take advantage of the reactor’s benefits without having to build it. As for the drop pods, I didn’t pick them because I prefer to gather my troops at my base in a glorious legion before sending them out. Dropping units in the middle of the battlefield one by one would require too much micromanagement on my part.

Zerg Tech

1. Bunker turrets over bunker defense enhancement
OPINION: It could have gone both ways, but I liked the extra turret.

2. Perdition turret over planetary fortress
OPINION: Loved the flame turret. It definitely made the final missions against the zerg a lot easier to handle. It also allowed me to substitute the Firebat for a Marauder in the bunker. I’ll probably go for the planetary fortress next time. But I skipped it the first time because I figured that if the enemy was that close to my command center, I’d be screwed regardless. Also, I didn’t like the fact that it would prevent the building from lifting off.

3. Predator panther robot over Hercules super dropship
OPINION: I went for the panther but ended up building it only once. The Predator is incredibly expensive and falls easily. On the other hand, I decided against the Hercules because I realized I rarely needed to transport any units by air, period. Also, the Hercules can’t heal units.

4. Mechanical regeneration over energy boost
OPINION: Picking the mechanical regeneration was definitely the right choice for me as it made my Battlecruisers last twice as long as they otherwise would have in the final missions.  My philosophy has always been to reduce micromanagement. Eliminating the need for SCVs to repair my machines was a plus. On the other hand, giving units an energy boost would only make sense if I handled a lot of units with energy (Wraiths, Ghosts, Science Vessels, etc.). I chose not to use those units.

5. Psi disrupter vs. Hive Mind emulator
OPINION: I chose to slow down the Zerg rather than control them. I think I would have been happy with either decision. But in the end, the decision was made when I realized I had a lot of trouble against Nydus worm attacks. It was much better for me to slow down the swarms of zerglings so I could blast them with my tanks than to mind control the occasional Ultralisk that lumbered its way to my base.

Blizzard Entertainment managed to sell 1.5 million copies of StarCraft II within the first 48 hours of the game’s release. This makes StarCraft II the fastest selling strategy game of all time. I can believe it. I spent all weekend playing the single player campaign.

But who cares about sales and revenue? It just means some bigwig at Activision is going to be stuffing his pockets with a big bonus, taking credit for the company’s success in order to appease shareholders. Also, more money just means a bigger buffer against lawsuits.

I’m far more interested in discovering the aggregate number of hours spent by StarCraft II players on Battle.net since the game’s release. I’ve personally logged about 12 hours so far. But I have acquaintances who live and die by their ladder ranking and carry on with all-night binges . Their gaming habits scare me.

If Blizzard announced that gamers wasted 10 billion hours on Battle.net within the first week of the game’s release, I would not be the least bit surprised. Oh, I’d weep for humanity. But I wouldn’t be suprised.

I’m a big fan of the Android mobile platform and a proud owner of a Nexus One. But for some reason, I’ve never quite warmed up to Verizon’s “Droid Does” marketing campaign. Something about the commercials just felt odd. Subconsciously, they made me chuckle rather than want to run out and buy a phone. I’m not talking about the robot hands and gizmo eyes. Those are cool.

I may have finally discovered the reason for my subconscious distaste. While reading an article today on 1UP.com titled: Twenty Years Ago In Advertisements, I noticed a familiar ad for the Sega Genesis.

When Sega first released the Genesis in 1989, most kids had an 8-bit NES. Sega couldn’t compete on the strength of its titles because Nintendo’s library was simply too massive. So they decided to emphasize the Genesis system’s amazingly powerful (for its time) 16-bit processor. Guess what slogan they used?

Genesis Does What Nintendon’t.

No, I’m not kidding. You can watch this classic Genesis Does commercial on YouTube.

Well, we all know what eventually happened in the console wars. Nintendo released the Super Nintendo two years later and Sega never quite recovered. Today, the Nintendo Wii is the best selling console in the world. Meanwhile, Sega lost the console war and hasn’t released a new console since 1999.

I thought it was peculiar that Verizon’s marketing team basically retooled Sega’s entire campaign. The similarities are just too eerie. In both cases, a company with big marketing dollars (Sega/Verizon) with a new and fairly unknown system (Genesis/Android) attempted to dethrone a market leader (NES/iPhone), that possessed a very strong library of games and apps. Both Sega and Verizon chose to emphasize their respective systems’ hardware superiority as a result. In the case of Sega, they constantly reiterated that the Genesis was a 16-bit console. That’s twice as fast as the NES. Similarly, Droid commercials emphasized the fast processor, open architecture, and multitasking ability.

Did Verizon know about the Genesis campaign or was did just a strange coincidence? I have no idea. But I certainly hope history doesn’t repeat itself.

If you haven’t seen Inception yet, do everything you can to avoid reading spoilers and run to your closest theater. I’ve done my best to keep spoilers to a minimum below. If your friends, family, or coworkers start talking about their theories, plug your ears and shout ‘la la la la.’ You owe it to yourself to watch this film unspoiled.

The movie is simultaneously an audacious heist movie, a sci-fi mindbender, a psychological drama, and an action movie. Normally, when a movie tries to incorporate too many ideas and influences, , it loses its identity and flounders. But here, it succeeds by building them into the internal logic of the movie: dream levels.

If you’ve seen the trailers, you probably think the movie is about a guy who can enter dreams and steal ideas. You probably think the movie involves a Paris cafe exploding and a city folding on itself. Tom Hardy fires a grenade launcher. Joseph Gordon-Levitt fights in a hotel hallway. You would be very wrong. The trailer showcases a tiny fraction of a much deeper story. For once, the marketing department has done its job: show you how cool a movie is without giving away anything.

I’ve heard a lot of people complain that the movie was confusing. I agree that the storyline was complex. You not only have to keep track of time and space, but chronology as well. But I definitely wouldn’t say it was confusing. David Lynch movies are confusing. This was more like watching someone write a very long equation and then shaking up the variables.

In fact, I felt the entire first half of the film functioned brilliantly as a walkthrough of the movie’s rules precisely so the second half would not be confusing. Ellen Page’s character asks enough questions on behalf of the audience so that we always understand what’s going on. Would you be confused by a jigsaw puzzle? No. It’s challenging to put together. But you know the basic rules. Similarly, Inception has its own rules and sticks to them. It is one of the most finely crafted movies I’ve watched.

What about the movie itself?

Joseph Gordon-Levitt steals this movie, period. He plays the coolest character, has the best lines, has the best fight scene, and even gets to steal a kiss from Ellen Page’s character. Cobra Commander aside, I’ve always felt Gordon-Levitt has been flying under the radar in his post-3rd Rock career and has been picking his roles a little too carefully. But I’m hoping Inception will be a breakout role. Dude is talented. Character in the next Batman movie? I hope so.

Favorite scene with Gordon-Levitt? It would have to be the totem explanation. Such a simple scene, but played so well. So much of the movie ultimately hinges on the logic established in that scene too. Don’t worry if you have no idea what I’m talking about. See the movie.

I also really loved Cillian Murphy, not only because he’s a great actor but because his character is so interesting. He plays Robert Fischer, Jr., the son of a dying businessman who stands to inherit everything. The main characters are trying to implant an idea in his head to achieve something that I don’t want to give away. Fischer is both wonderfully naive and fiendishly complex. You know there’s a lot going on underneath the surface. But he hides it behind a mask of composure and sorrow. Murphy pulls it off masterfully.

Two really great Murphy scenes come to mind. The first takes place in a certain bathroom with a certain gun. It’s something I would totally do if I were in his shoes. But sitting in the theater, my hands started sweating and I was gritting my teeth. I don’t think I’ve been so emotionally invested in a scene like that one. I was literally shouting to the screen, “Don’t do it!” The second scene involves Fischer discovering a certain sentimental object. After watching Murphy as the Scarecrow in Batman Begins, I wanted to punch him. But here, I felt genuinely bad. Really bad. I think deep down everyone wishes their parents… I’ve said too much already. Spoiler interception!

As for the scariest character? Mal. Maria from Silent Hill 2 is a saint compared to Mal. Marion Cotillard is an Academy Award winner for a reason.

And the music. Oh the music. Hans Zimmer’s horns and strings add so much to this movie. It frames the gun battles. It empowers the street chase. It adds depth and danger to the car chase. It warps to fit every level of the dream world. It utterly defines limbo. The track ‘Old Souls’ sounds like something Akira Yamaoka would write. Bleak. Desolate. Utterly heartbreaking.

Some people have been asking me what my interpretation is of the ending. I’ll hold off on explaining in too much detail because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t watched the movie yet. But my take is that it stopped. Not only that but it was a red herring. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, good. Go watch the movie and sound off below!

Need to quickly edit a photo or image but don’t want to download and install a program? Check out CloudCanvas, a fast HTML5-based image editor that runs in your browser.

CloudCanvas is surprisingly robust. It works with both vector and pixel images and integrates with various cloud-based services. It also comes with the typical font-manipulation features like drop shadows and bevels. And for those of you thinking this is just an online version of Microsoft Paint, rest assured that you’ll be able to use precious layers.

Of course, CloudCanvas is nowhere as feature-rich as Adobe Photoshop. On the other hand, a single license for Photoshop costs $700. So it’s really unfair to compare the two. In the end, CloudCanvas just a simple and free browser-based image editor that everyone should bookmark.

Links:
CloudCanvas (cloud-canvas.com)