project umbrella

Guys I'm going to talk about one of my most favourite games/movies of all time. Resident Evil.

The main focus of RE is that of a pharmaceutical company known as the Umbrella Corporation.

Umbrella is featured as a very powerful company that does research on virus prevention (or use), and even has their own military type force.

For most of us, we know that Umbrella already does these things. But how were they founded?

Umbrella was founded in 1968 by Lord Oswell E. Spencer; Sir Edward Ashford and Dr. James Marcus after the discovery of the Progenitor virus the previous year. Another starting member, though not considered a co-founder, was Marcus' student Brandon Bailey, who was with Marcus and Spencer when they first discovered the Stairway of the Sun flower.

Shortly after Umbrella's founding, Ashford died from exposure to the virus, and Brandon was effectively-exiled to the Umbrella Africa Laboratory, where he send virus samples to Dr. Marcus' newly built research center.

In 1969, Edward's son Alexander began the construction of the Antarctic Base, attached to which was a research centre where he began development of his "Code: Veronica" project. This was his research into the gene that controls intelligence. Two years later, Alfred and Alexia would be born from his research.

Seeking new information on Progenitor, Marcus had several of his students infected with the virus. They were however, unable to survive its effects and died, their corpses dumped in the Water Treatment facility.

Marcus injected leeches with Progenitor in 1978, and bore witness to the creation of a new strain which he named the "Tyrant virus". Later this year, the Training facility would be closed and Marcus' two prized students: Albert Wesker and William Birkin, would be moved to the nearby Arklay Laboratory.

Yet again in 1978, did Marcus find evidence of tampering. In his increasing paranoia brought on by his quest for glory and isolation from mankind, he wrote in his diary that Albert and William were the only humans he trusted. His trust in them would betray him ten years later however, as the two would - under direct orders from Spencer, himself - have him assassinated by a Special forces unit and dumped in the Water Treatment Facility. Credit for "t" would be taken by William. His trust in William would also render hiding the source of "t" - the Leeches - useless.

By now however, Birkin had little care for "t", having discovered the G-virus in the body of Lisa Trevor, the daughter of George, still kept in the estate as a guinea pig for their twisted experiments.

This of course, lay the foundaitons of chaos as the estate would be  infected by marcus and bring to the mansuon, then the city, then the world! The ultimate nighmare!

The last week before examinations

It is usually the case that when it is the final week before the finals quarterly exams, it is expected that work be increasingly difficult. Surprisingly, I did not encounter too much difficulty. That is probably because the teachers are saving the hardest work to come right before the exams.

With that out of the way, I would like to offer advice to those who plan to leave MIT during their next year. It is the norm that students start studying for college at the end of their third year. I myself do not plan yet to go anywhere. However, if plans change I would like to have a choice. Knowing that I will still take exams for various universities around the country. (Except UP. There is no way I can possibly pass that.)
Here we go:

Before we start I would like to thank my relatives for their sage advice.


First and foremost- Do not underestimate any exam.

my cousin applied to five different schools, even if a couple of these did not have the courses he really wanted. College admission here in the Philippines in highly selective and extremely competitive now- you’re up against tens of thousands of students in all the exams you take. Give each exam your best shot, treat it like it were the deciding exam to your dream school. Results a few months later may surprise you, and you’ll feel a lot better knowing that you tried your best in every test you took.

Study and review for the exam.
It is recomended that you Enroll yourself at a review center or find yourself a personal tutor
· This is not completely necessary, but serves as an excellent confidence booster. The summer before your senior year will probably be composed of daily review classes (tip: don’t review with your friends so you’re forced to focus) where you’ll basically be refreshed on everything you learned in high school. Inquire early (February) about the programs at review centers to gauge their varying strengths and weaknesses. Many of my friends recommend LSC for their books, Expert Guides for their super comprehensive lectures, or MSA or Ahead for their test-taking tips. Some people did not go to a review center and was happy with just studying in a small group with a tutor. Those small neighborhood review centers can be very good as well- choose one that best suits your learning style.
Invest in review materials and mock tests then sit down and answer them as if you were actually taking the exam.
· From the results, you’ll be able to see where you need to do more work- if you’re a slow reader, brush up on reading comprehension, or if you’re like me and math isn’t your best friend, keep practicing solving problems in high school math (arithmetic, algebra, geometry and basic trigonometry) so that you’ll be an expert by the exam.

Get sufficient sleep and eat before the exam.

Most people underestimate the value of this- but believe me, it’s extremely difficult to take a test when you’re just dying to crawl back into bed or run to the nearest Mcdonalds to grab a Happy Meal. Even if your exam is early in the morning, make sure to eat breakfast and get a full night’s sleep. If you’re extremely anxious about the exam the night before, try reading a book (Yet another tip: Don’t review the night before!) until you fall asleep.

On the day of the exam, make you you have everything (even everyone) you need with you.

Stock up on Mongol number twos (All the exams, from the UPCAT to the USTET require number twos, with the exception of the UA&P entrance exam- to make sure, check your admission slip the night before!) and have a trusty eraser with you during the exam. It also helps if you have maybe a little good luck charm or your favorite giant sharpener with you- anything that will help ease the tension. Also, it helps sometimes to bring a parent or sibling with you, someone who’ll be there to cheer for you as you walk into the building, and someone to vent to right after the exam.

During the exam, don’t hestitate to skip a number and just go back to it.

An important thing to remember about these entrance exams is that time will always be a major factor. A smart friend of mine breezes through the numbers by skipping those he’s not sure of and just writing them down on his scratch paper so he’ll remember to go back to them later. The time pressure is worst for some entrance exams - in one exam, there is a part which you actually have to complete in under five minutes. It’s completely possible to complete this, as long as you learn how to pace yourself. Some other college entrance exams (the DLSUCET for example) are right minus wrong. For every number you get wrong, .25 or one fourth of a point is deducted from your correct answers. Does that mean you shouldn’t guess? Not exactly. The smart thing to do would be to eliminate the choices- if you’re left with only two to choose from, it’s best to guess. There’ll always be a 50% chance that you’ve guessed correctly

darth vader

Guys let me tell you aboutn one of my favorite villains of all time, Darth vader. Although he is one of my top 10, he is definitely not the top. Lex Luthor and the Joker fills that role perfectly well. Despite that, he does a good job of what a villain ought to do, and therefore deserves credit. For the Protagonist of any story must have an opposition and defeat it, in order to validate his status as the main character.

This is taken from the ever popular dark lor'ds view:

It is a period of civil war. Guerrilla spaceships striking from a hidden base have won a narrow victory against our loyal Imperial forces, inflicting heavy losses in terms of casualties and, worse, the galactic peace. During the battle insurgent spies managed to steal secret plans to our ultimate weapon and the brainchild of Tarkin's dream, the DEATH STAR, an armoured space station with enough firepower to destroy an entire planet.

The whole thing has given me a massive headache.

Moff Nur has been killed, a wound in my life for which I shall never forgive the traitorous Rebel Alliance. Nur has been my closest confidant outside of my master for years, and I will feel his loss keenly. Our long conversations have always helped me clarify matters, though he was no mentor -- rather, a friend. Nur never told me what to think. He showed me how to find the answers myself.

I wish I could seek his counsel now.

The last time we spoke, right before the battle, he made a suggestion I admit I considered absurd. "You should try keeping a journal," he said.

"A journal?" I echoed. "Do you mean I should write a book?" I know, of course, that Moff Nur has been editing the manuscript of my master Darth Sidious the Emperor Palpatine, whose highly anticipated treatise on the subject of the subjugation of civilizations and the creation of powerful monsters promises to be a bestseller.

"No, no," smiled Nur. "I mean like a diary."

"Like a teenage girl?"

"Well, not entirely unlike a teenage girl, I suppose. The purpose is to help you analyze yourself by exporting your thoughts and impressions into a form you can review. Not only can it provide valuable insight as an artifact, but I find the actual process of recounting my reflections cathartic in itself."

"You do this?"

"I do. I promise you, my friend, it helps."

And so I have decided to make good on the Moff's advice, now that he is dead and the confidence of the terrorists swells. I have begun this journal. I do not know how long the experiment will last, but I admit that in the absence of Nur himself I do find it calming to imagine I am speaking to his spirit as I dictate this recording.

Hello, Moff!

Alright, now I feel really stupid. Perhaps this experiment will be short lived. I am a busy man. Being a preternaturally powerful dark overlord at the right hand of a descent-crushing Emperor entails a certain set of demanding responsibilities. The galaxy won't tyrannize itself, after all.

I'm back. Commodore Ozzel just rushed to my chambers to triumphantly announce in his simpering way that a series of terrorist transmissions has been intercepted originating from the very starship that even now ostensibly ferries Ambassador Leia Organa on a consular mission to her homeworld of Alderaan.

Long have I suspected her ties to the Rebel Alliance! This time we have her. I have commanded this StarDestroyer to break off from the fleet and pursue the Tantive IV across hyperspace, and to disable her at the earliest opportunity.

With Organa's capture we will have a new hope for protecting Tarkin'

My major setback this week

This week was very tough. From wednesday onwards, I had to go through school with significantly less concentration on anything because I had diarreah. It was just terrible timing that it came on the day I had to take a test in math. And basically all the other tests that had to be taken that day. It seemed so impossible that I would get through the week. Especially in the math test i was just messed up that time. I couldn't concentrate and I felt like vomiting. Diarreah isn't the worst thing that you can get but it sure makes you feel like ......

Seriously, I can;t even begin to explain how the past week sucked. And to make it worse we were assigned projects in filipino to a movie that I can barely relate to. Then apply all the theories assigned to us. It is my expectation that the week will get better. And that no sicknesses will follow.

Assasins Creed 3

To all AC fans! As you know, assasins creed 3 is coming up. As a fan myself, i can say that I am very excited for the upcoming game. And know the first step to knowing the game, is to let me explain it.

Assassin's Creed III is an upcoming game developed by Ubisoft, and is set for release on October 30, 2012 Ubisoft has claimed that the game will be bigger than its previous console installments, and will complete the story of Desmond Miles.

The game will be set between 1753 and 1783, and will focus on a new ancestor, Connor Kenway, who fought during the American Revolution.

Can you believe it's during the American Revolution? I'm glad Desmond will still be there. It sucks though that lucy died the last game. It would have been good to see her in 3.

Let's talk about the development of this game.


With the game in development since January 2010, by its release date, Ubisoft will have worked on the title for almost three years. In a statement made by Yvés Guillemot, he shared that "what we have seen is just fabulous."
The game runs on a new version of Anvil Engine, which improves environment effects. There will be seasonal changes, meaning that the sun will shine during summer and the landscape will be covered in snow during winter, subsequently affecting gameplay.

In winter, soldiers will move more slowly and stumble about in the snow, and lakes and rivers will freeze over, allowing Connor to access new areas. Another technical aspect of the engine is that it can depict up to a thousand troops engaged in battle, in contrast to previous games' one hundred, and detailed close-ups.

You know what? I'm glad they added these new stuff. I mean the first and second one was great, especially the revelations storyline, but they always seem to have that one close up technical aspect. I can't wait to see the new additions. And I'm sure Jerry can't as well

The Discrimination we face in School

The way we view school is almost immaculate. It is a play in our, eyes, that is free from racism, prejudice, and degredation. But at times, this is not always the case.  There are haters everywhere and speaking as a realist, the world will never be free of them. Let me cite some examples.

First let's go to the stereotype:

I'm sure I've written about stereotypical, people and students in my previous entries. Remember the movies that we watched about high schools in the US? I'm sure we've noticed the ever-antagonistic, "popular kids". They have their own tables, their own group of people that willingly follow them without question, and they constantly snub the "nerds". Schools today are highly unlikely to show students with this kind of behavior. But I will make the comparison.

Schools in real life:

In my opinon, discrimination is as strong as ever. However, it is almost unapparent. Students have mastered the art of belittling other people so discreetly, that it does not reach the word of the teachers/principals. I believe that this is the way it should be. I think as equals, discrimination will not cease and it is the other persons problem of how he views other people. However it is wrong for discrimination to be the cause of punishment, or lack of rewarding to a student. It should not be the policy of how desicions are made. People are free to think as they wish, and even say as they wish (with the consequences of course). 

What is my point?

My point is that discrimination is everywhere and cannot be removed because it is a point of view. And removing a point of view is tantamount to taking away the right to free opinion. Even authority figures can personally discriminate against other people, no one is stopping them from hating another nationality. It becomes wrong however, when that is how they make their decisions and treat the people below them based on their personal beliefs. You can be racist against your employee as much as you like, but you still have to treat them fairly and with respect.

Frodo

Frodo Baggins is one of the central, if not arguably the main character, in J.R.R. s best selling book, The Lord of the Rings. He is an intelligent, graceful hobbit, who inherits the evil Dark Lord Sauron’s Ring of Power. He must make the agonizing decision to try to destroy the ring by taking it from his beloved home in the Shire to Sauron’s evil country of Mordor, so he can if possible, cast the ring into the depths of the fiery Mount Doom.

There are a few important points about Frodo Baggins that must be settled especially for those who are only familiar with Peter Jackson’s film versions of Tolkien’s books. First, though tend to have longer lives than humans, and look younger for much longer (which is enhanced by wearing Sauron’s ring), Frodo is not just a youngster. When Tolkien’s book opens, Frodo is about to celebrate his 33rd birthday, the typical year for coming of age for hobbits. He is 50 when he sets off on his perilous quest, an echo of the age his Uncle Bilbo (really a cousin) was when Bilbo began his "adventure," in the book, The Hobbit.

There is much in the character of Frodo that is admirable, and as his journey continues, his figure becomes distinctly Christlike. He is clearly and fully aware that he is sacrificing himself in the hope that the world will be saved. As a hobbit, he begins Tolkien’s book being described as somewhat different from other hobbits. Under the tutelage of Bilbo, Frodo has learned some Elvish, and the wizard gandalf describes his mind as "quick," not always the case with hobbits, who can be quite simple folk.

Though he loves the Shire, his homeland, he is torn by the desire to go adventuring like Bilbo did, and though he has many hobbit characteristics, like a good sense of humor and a love of mushrooms, he has more of a thoughtful mind and adventuring spirit.

As Tolkien’s novel progresses, Frodo Baggins is increasingly tested especially by the continued need to carry the enemy’s ring, which corrupts all who come into contact with it. The chief need for Frodo is to remain as free as he can of this taint, and have the mental strength to ultimately cast the ring away. This is no easy task, since possession of the ring is not only corruptive but also addictive.

In his journeys, Frodo is accompanied by his faithful servant sam gamgee, and later is guided by the former ring bearer and desperate creature Gollum. A Jungian interpretation of Gollum/Sméagol would clearly call Gollum Frodo’s shadow. In most other interpretations, Gollum is merely clear indication of what Frodo would become if he chose to claim the ring for his own. To remain Frodo Baggins and resist being Gollum is a terribly difficult task.

Yet Gollum serves Frodo, in some instances, extremely well. It should be recollected that Gollum and not Frodo is ultimately responsible for the ring’s destruction, and further, that Peter Jackson’s film version once again veers from the original. When Gollum seizes the ring from Frodo by biting the poor hobbit’s finger off, Frodo does not respond with violent act or deed. Instead, Gollum in his madness and exultant joy at gaining the ring dances too close to the edge of Mount Doom’s volcano and falls in. Frodo does not push him in.

iIn the end, the experience of bearing the ring makes returning to the Shire and living there too difficult for Frodo Baggins. Instead of remaining in the Shire, which Frodo believes he’s saved for others, not for himself, he leaves with the last of the elves to go to the Gray Havens. He has gone from land loving hobbit to one of the great heroes in fiction, and his end is both fitting and sad. The Gray Havens suggest immortality, and perhaps Tolkien little knew that his character would become nearly immortal to the many readers who have treasured his work. Frodo combines ultimate self-sacrifice with abiding love, and is thus to be cherished; small of stature, but immeasurably great in spirit.