BREAD,BUTTER AND CRYSIS........
I am pretty terrible at racing simulators.As I headed on for my billionth date with the wall in an F1 simulator a long time ago, I chided for loving the Need for speed with the childish enthusiasm that I do. To Paraphrase, "How could you like that unrealistic crap? eehhhhhYou are missing out on the true driving experience " Hold on Protest a bit and you get this :"It's the closest you are going to come to the real thing ". more often than not accompanied by.The realistic graphics make it so immersive.This tripe even extends to the fans of FPS games, so don't sit there looking all snug.The truth is as games approach towards realism , the gaming experience drifts farther away from it.Today you get your True driving experience sitting in front of a TV with nothing to look at behind you.
Well, Well Well I am not here to criticise the older generation games , infact I am dedicating this Blog to all the Fans of the "CRYSIS" Game which was developed by the Crytek Team and it was directed by Cevat Yerli.I am really moved by today's Games approaching realism and that adrenaline pumping and Eye candy scenes.The latest attempt at realism highly amusing is the introduction of moral dilemma.The problem with realistic games is that when you start to get completely immersed , something reminds you that it is infact just a game.But my view point completely changed when I tried my hands on the crysis.It's a game which according to me redefined what a game could offer as visuals and at the same time be very much realistic.It has got everything which a gamer dreams of like realtime shadows, realistic physics-x controlled motions(i,e everthing you do is as per the laws of physics governing all objects on this planet Earth), realistic surroundings, realistic and denser jungles, realistic reflections galore of water bodies,ahhhhhhhh Folks and countless other thing ready to make you drool.The game I am currently immersed in is, oh don't even bother to ask ,you guess it right it's Crysis.I tried to play it with all the bells and whistles on and believe me folks it looks stunnig and never seen before kind of a stuff.The game is so heavy that it has to be played on a dual GPU i,e via a ATI crossfire or in an SLI mode and your system often asks for some space to breath haha.This game according to me has redefined what realism is all about.Now I can't go much farther from realitly than that , can I?
©Mirza Adil 2008.All rights reserved.Unauthorised copying,publishing of any material content is prohibited and governed by international laws.
ATTITUDE .....I LOVE THE WORD ATTITUDE
This is folks what I think of the most appealing and charismatic word "ATTITUDE".The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.Attitude is something like an Operating System, which guides each & every action of a person including his interaction with the environment which can either be tangible or intangible..Hence folks attitude is nothing, but it's deep hidden within you, waiting for you to discover it and polish it to the ultimate.Once you discover your attitude , it's like opening a pandoras box.It concludes that Attitude is to wear, to show,to breath and to live with.
But do not exceed the limit because "excess of everything is not bad but sad".
©Mirza Adil 2008.All rights reserved.Unauthorised copying,publishing of any material content is prohibited and governed by international laws.
Feeling Low!
Ahhh what does feeling low to you mean? Well even before you question me I will myself answer you guys,to me it means that something wrong is happening within myself.It can even be something wrong happening outside me, but O yea what lies within me is what matters to me the most.The things which matters to me the most are preserved deep inside me.There is a deep blue ocean inside me and things such as emotions,ideas and the most valuable thoughts and memoirs keep floating in it.
Normally I am a mediocre guy with a smile on my face even when I am in extreme pain.I don't know know what this smile is all about,maybe it signals to outsiders, "hey fella be at ease I don't need your sympathy".The words I,Me,myself and Mirza applies to me all the time.My life revolves around it.Feeling low in my sense means that I,Me,myself and Mirza kinda equilibrium within me is disturbed and there is need to restore it as soon as possible.My self remedy in such a situation goes like this, I recall the most happiest and joyous moments in my life and sort of relive them.I imagine myself on top of a mountain with dense pine vegetation with clouds hovering over the majestic pine trees.Ahh the very scene turns me on and adrenaline gushing in my veins makes my heart go zip,zap zoom.
When I feel low,sad and melancholic I simply try to be myself.Something within me infuses a spirit of enthusiasm and tells me- Mirza get up it's your day,comeon.I hear a voice without physical existence saying"MUSKURAA DO TUM KHUDAA KAY LIYE,SHAM-E-MEHFIL MEIN ROSHNI KAM HAI".I muster courage with the belief that happy and joyous moments are very near and it's high time to be again on cloud 9.Clouds can cover and hide the mountain for sometime but when they disperse and the sun's rays fall on it ,it gleams showing its dominance.The same thing applies to me.The good old smile is restored back on my face and I announce my arrival.Here I come with a bang.
©Mirza Adil2010.All rights reserved.Unauthorised copying,publishing of any material content is prohibited and governed by international laws.
My Encounter with a Poltergeist
On a chilly night in the month of February some two years back, I finished playing Red Faction- a Multiplayer game with my buddy on our private LAN. Ahhh what a night it was, I as usual emerged as the winner and I am still unbeaten from the past 3 years or so. I was happy as it was snowing outside. As a childhood habit I like to walk in the snow, at least I move outside and feel the chill associated with snowfall. I moved outside and voice chatted over LAN with my buddy and we decided to have one more round of play. We played for an hour so and logged off.
I went to my bed thinking that tomorrow will be a pleasant day as everything will be covered under a thick blanket of snow. I was trigger happy as I was toying of fixing an outing with my dad to Gulmarg. I went to bed in a good mood. My room was illuminated as the light from the snow was getting reflected and I could see my Music Cassette collection exactly opposite my bed crystal clear as I had moved the curtains to their extreme position. I closed my eyes and feel asleep. Little did I know that my worst fears were going to come true.
In the middle of the night on my extreme right I heard a strange noise as if someone is walking near my Gaming rig. I kept mum thinking that I am dreaming but I again heard the noise as if a person is walking from this side of the wall to the other. I started to tremble and I closed my eyes tight. The undistinguished sound continued to haunt me. In a trite I opened my eyes and what I saw was a strange creature with its legs spread on my either side. I could see its leg with my eyes popping out of my sockets. It was the most hairy thing that I have ever seen after human head. It resembled with the ram’s rear leg. I still remember the episode as it happened moments ago.
I was perspiring profusely as if I had taken a bath and without patting dry my body I had hopped in my bed. I started reciting the verses of the Holy Quran, closed my eyes and the saliva started to drip from the palette of my mouth. I didn’t have courage to open my eyes I kept praying Almighty that the scary being is gone. After half an hour or so, I somehow mustered some courage and opened my eyes and felt relaxed and my whole body rejuvenated as the scary being was gone. I talked to myself, Mirza was it a dream. I pinched my cheeks to check if it was really a dream and I was flabbergasted to know it really happened. I opened the cap of my water bottle and drank water. I thanked Almighty that my worst fears were over. I pray every day to Almighty that neither I nor anyone encounters the Poltergeist in his life.
©Mirza Adil2010.All rights reserved.Unauthorised copying,publishing of any material content is prohibited and governed by international laws.
Snow conditions over the course of a season.
1. Powder:- Light, fluffy snow, found during and immediately after snowfall. Skiing and snowboarding in deep powder snow is a favorite among skilled, experienced skiers and snowboarders; sometimes known as "powderhounds" hunting for the next big dump. Because Western snow generally has a lower moisture content, western powder is lighter and easier to ski than heavier eastern powder. Utah and Colorado snow is especially known for being extremely light and dry as well as a lot of snow found in New Zealand.
2. Chowder:- Chopped up powder. Powder that has fallen in the prior few days and remains light and fluffy but has been skied or tracked up.
3. Crud:- Once powder snow settles and becomes tracked up by skiers and snowboarders it firms or freezes into texture that is challenging and usually undesirable. Crud may contain "chicken heads", balls of frozen snow.
4. Groomed or corduroy:- Snow that has been tilled by a grooming machine. This snow condition is favored by beginners and the majority of recreational skiers, in that it tends to be relatively forgiving, easy to turn upon, and requires less skill to negotiate than powder snow.
5. Granular snow:- Snow with large crystals, i.e. small pellets. Depending on sun and temperature conditions, it may be wet granular snow — meaning that there is a considerable amount of unfrozen water in it, or loose granular snow, which has no unfrozen water. Wet granular snow will form a snowball; loose granular snow will not. Wet granular conditions are often found in the springtime. Loose granular conditions are generally produced when wet granular snow has re-frozen and then been broken up by snowgrooming apparatus.
6. Corn snow:- The result of repeated daily thaws and nightly re-freezing of the surface. Because of the thaw-refreeze cycle, snow crystal shapes change over time, producing crystal shapes somewhat akin to wet granular, but larger. True corn snow is a delight to ski or ride once it softens in the afternoons.
7. Ice/Hard-Pack:- Skiers and snowboarders typically regard any snow condition that is very hard as "ice". In fact, true ice conditions are comparatively rare. Much of what is perceived to be ice is actually a frozen granular condition — wet granular snow that has refrozen to form a very dense surface. Telling the difference is comparatively easy; if one can get a ski pole to stand up in it, the surface is likely to be more of a frozen granular surface than an icy one — and while it is certainly not as enjoyable as many other snow conditions, skilled skiers and snowboarders can successfully negotiate it. In fact, ice is a preferred condition among racers, in that the surface tends to be quite fast and race course conditions tend to remain more consistent during the race, with fewer ruts developing on the course. Another form of icy condition can be found at higher elevation resorts in the Rocky Mountains and in Europe; direct sunlight can melt the top layers of snow crystals and subsequent freezing produces a very shiny, slick surface. This true ice is also common in Vermont, where it is affectionately called "Vermont Powder". Many resorts incorrectly report "packed powder" when the true condition is hard pack.
8.Crust:- A crust condition exists when soft snow is covered by a harder upper layer upon the surface. This crust can be created by freezing rain (precipitation formed in warmer upper levels of the atmosphere, falling into a temperature inversion at which surface temperatures are below freezing, and freezing on contact with the ground), by direct sunlight, and by wind loading which packs down the upper layers of the snowpack but leaves lower layers more or less unaffected. Crusts are extremely challenging conditions.
9. Dust on crust:- A trace of new snow on top of crust. Undesirable.
10. Spring conditions:- A catch-all term ski areas use to describe conditions when numerous different surface types can be found on the mountain — usually in the later part of the season, although the term is sometimes used during an extended midwinter thaw. The term also generally reflects the presence of bare spots and/or areas of thin cover. With spring conditions, the snow is usually firm in early morning (even reaching frozen granular status if left ungroomed), breaking a softer corn or wet granular surface mid-day, and is often very soft and mushy in afternoon (many skiers refer to this type of snow condition as "mashed potatoes", due to its heaviness). In some instances when the snow is untracked, sun baked, slightly dirty, with the consistency of a snow cone, it is called "tecate powder". The speed with which conditions change on a given spring day is directly related to the exposure of the slope relative to the sun. In the northern hemisphere, east- and south-facing slopes tend to soften first; west-facing slopes generally soften by mid-day. North-facing slopes may hold on to their overnight snow conditions throughout the day.
11. Windblown:-A type of snow that forms when powder isn't skied on for a long period of time. It is essentially powder past its expiration date. The consistency is that of a thick and "sticky" powder, that provides lots of resistance; it often is covered by a crust of hard packed snow. It is prone to happening in large, open areas where there is little shelter from the wind. Its appearance often fools inexperienced skiers to believe it is fresh powder, much to their dismay.
12. Variable:- This snow type is a catch-all term for snow that can be tracked out, spring corn, packed powder, hard pack, and even powder. It is a "mixed bag", if you will, of conditions.
©Mirza Adil2010.All rights reserved.Unauthorised copying,publishing of any material content is prohibited and governed by international laws.
