I sold my soul today

Yes, I did it, I finally did it. I do not have any excuse, I do not call it sanity and I still cannot believe that I gave away a lump sum to Microsoft, a sum that is more than a month's rent. I gave it all away to get what you see in the pictures below.

Yes, this is XBox 360 Limited Halo 3 Edition. It was 25 Euros expensive than the Premium version and both do not have anything different apart from the cool Halo finish that this one has. Was it worth the extra money? HELL YEAH! Plus, it comes with the 65 nm Falcon processor, which will put an end to the 3 rings of death (Hopefully). So why did I do it? Why when I was pro PS3 all the time? The reason is simple, I am still pro PS3 and i will get it when the time comes, but for now, the reasons for me are:

• Gears of War
  
• Bioshock
  
• Mass Effect
  
• Halo 3
  
• Ace Combat 6
  
• Condemned 2

Need I say more? Well anyway, once i take the box apart, more pictures will follow. By the way, I do not have a TV at the moment. If my attempt to run xbox on my laptop via a TV tuner card fails, then I will get a TV as well.
This is why we earn...

Sameer's weight loss plan

A few days back, I asked Sameer to get Internet installed. He told me that he will not as then he will keep playing it and will not lose weight. When I asked what he will do to lose weight then, check this strip to know...

Blabbering Wombat

This strip is in honour of the blabbering wombat aka Wajiha.

There and back again

This weekend was passed in the good old Tampere. Whenever I visit Tampere, I have that homely feeling over there. Me and Jon had initially planned to play paint ball, but since it was raining, we had to settle for cart racing. Its like formula one racing on a very small scale and trust me, its not easy. The steering wheel is very tight and by the time i finished 10 laps, my hands were aching. Apart from that, you get to experience all those G-forces due to the extreme bends and by the time you finish, you can feel some strange stretching in your back.
Afterwards, we went bowling in which i performed poorly. My hands were aching and some how i could never get the right ball for me. Later that night, Jon took me to a very nice Chinese restaurant, where I had a fried salmon steak. That was the first time that I really enjoyed food here in Finland, and unfortunately, it was not Finnish food (sorry Finnish people)

Then today I met up with Shahzad, Tayyab and Haroon, took my jacket and student card from Shahzad and headed to Helsinki via train. A drunk guy sat right next to me and went to sleep. When the ticket checking guy came, he woke the guy up for ticket and the drunkard started to have a fight with him. The end result was, the train had to be stopped and the drunkard thrown out. Its just sad to see that in such a civilised country, they still have this drinking problem. This is one of the banes for this society and I do hope that they realise that the problems with alcohol are far more than the benefits.

Anyway, I arrived home and then, as always, had to wait for prayers to be over and right now am planning to sleep. I do hope that i get up for sehri, which seems unlikely now as it is almost 11 pm here. No pictures this time folks, as I forgot to take the camera with me :(

Time for 2 songs with good videos

If you guys have not noticed yet, the music scene has become really bad in the past few years. You can hardly hear a good song and since I have not seen regular TV for about 2 years now, I do not get to see a lot of videos. Recently I came across two videos of two songs that I liked. The first one is One Two Three Four by Feist. I like the song because its totally different from what you hear these days and secondly, the video is very colourful and cool. Here, have a look:



The other one is the song, Koop Island Blues by Koop. The song is good but some how this video makes it sound even better. Such a carefree song with all the destruction and mayhem going in the back ground. This is from the game World in Conflict, which got 95% on gamespot. IT, if you are reading this, you know where to try the mettle of your gaming rig.

NostalGIK

When I went to Sweden to meet up with KB, I got hold of the many pics from GIKI that KB had on his drive. I will say that I am not too proud of the many pics of myself that I took, but these are still memories. I am posting them all here for you guys to have a look. I look like such a small kid!

This is me raza and Sarfaraz

Do not give me a camera, or this is how I will take the pictures
Just before final exam 1
Getting chummy with Asim

A sight too common these days

Just before our final presentation

You guys might be wondering that why most of the pictures are from the same place. Well, it was a digital camera that was given to Asim Pai for his FYP. Whenever I went to his room, I took pictures. I am glad that I did, because these are the only pictures that I have got while I was in GIKI. I do hope that you guys enjoyed the pictures.

CD Key doesn't come out with a straight finger

Guildwars is one of the most popular MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) available, second only to World of Warcraft. Those who think that it is just another MMORPG, should consider the fact that it has more than 3 million players world wide. The best thing about this game is that, you buy it just once and play it forever, there is no online playing fee unlike World of Warcraft. I have tried WoW too, but it fails to grasp my interest. Guildwars is better looking and has better quests, which keeps it interesting. You can have two specialties for your characters and even play it alone, if you do not have friends online.

Anyway, me and Kashif Bhatti (aka KB, aka Fryingpan aka Robot aka some other names which are not too ethical) wanted to try it online and we were in luck. My Guildwars copy came in with a trial key which I gave to him to try. But then we ran out of luck because the key was not working.

Thus, I contacted the support and asked why the key is not working and asked for an alternate key. They asked for a receipt of purchase, which I had misplaced (unfortunately a whole bag of receipts that I wanted to bring with me to my new place, but I think I threw out without knowing. I told them that I had misplaced it so as a proof, they asked me to send them the digital images of the copy, which I did. then the response came and it read:

Dear Umair,

Thank you for all the images provided.

However, in order to assist you further we need to send also a scan or gigital picture of the receipt of purchase of the game.

Thank you for your time and cooperation.

Kind regards
The Guild Wars Support Team

This really infuriated me, so I wrote this response:

"I have lost the receipt for the purchase, but i will try my best to provide the information as I remember it."

we have a history in this mail to read what the other guy wrote. That was the whole reason that i sent the digital images over as proof of purchase. I have given the trial key, I have given my own key which can be correlated with my account to know that my copy is genuine and it has not been duplicated.

On top of that, all I am asking here is a trial key, which lasts 10 hours or 14 days, its a key that will expire.. a small privelidge for those who bought this game. Now if you just think about it a bit, I need the key for a friend, who wants to try the game to see if its worth BUYING it, which in turn will benefit no other than your company and might even influence both me and him to BUY other expansions and guild wars 2 in the long run.

other publishers are giving trial keys for free while all I am asking here is that, i bought the game and lost the receipt which can happen in many ways, let me state some to explain how:

1. I had secret code written on it, so i ate it before my enemies got to it
2. my dog ate it
3. i burned it
4. i threw it with the bag i brought guild wars in
5. it was taken from me at gun point
6. i used it as toilet paper
7. somebody gifted me the game with my own money and since it was a gift, he didnt give me the receipt
8. i just like to keep it out of sight

Now if the high and mighty game company can't even give a trial key to a buyer who has been having problems in using the key which came with the package, a problem which he should not have in the first place, then I believe this is the most awful support for any game that I have come across. I need the trial key, if you can give it, then ok, if not, then thank you for wasting my time.

Umair

Today I got their response and it was this:

Dear Umair,

Thanks for your reply.

Please find your Guild Wars Prophecies trial code: *****-*****-*****-*****-*****

You can therefore give this code to your friend you will be able to create his Guild Wars account by following these steps:

- Open the game client
- Click on 'Create Account or Add Access Key'
- Select “Create a new Guild Wars Account”
- Enter your 25-digit Guild Wars access key
- Enter a valid email address (which will be your account name)
- Choose a password

Thanks for your cooperation.

Kind regards
The Guild Wars Support Team

I removed the key on purpose so that some of you free loaders might not copy it.

So now both me and KB intend to play it online and try it together. If KB likes it, he will buy it. Anyone else interested in playing it online?

Let us all welcome Wajiha

If you guys have not noticed yet, there are now two persons who are managing this blog. One is yours truly and the other one is Wajiha (The description about us is given to the right). I should thank Wajiha for taking her time out and making my blog look much better than before... Even Katta who is critical about everything that I do liked the look of it, so I guess the Wajiha magic has started. So who is Wajiha? A batch 12 gikian who made one of the best looking calculators in C++ (Yes, I was very surprised the first time I took a look at it, as it didn't look like an effort done by a beginner.) Her employment in P&G is yet another proof about the capabilities that she possesses and we will see more about it in the days to follow.

Another incident that I also recall is that, I was asked so many times the same questions over and over again that I got pissed and put up a note on my cabin's wall (facing outside which said).

I do not have any markers
I do not have a stapler
I do not know where Usman Muneer is

So she walked in and took it started to take it off and when I asked what she was doing, she said "its too rude and doesn't suite you, so I am taking it off" and she took it off.

Anyway, I am glad that my blog is getting a decent look finally which also got me to kill my other blog at Vox. May that blog rest in peace. Oh, btw, she prefers the nick "jay" so you can spot the link to the right that points to her blog.

My Apartment

This video is to show where I live these days.

Enjoy!

Last leg of the Sweden trip

Playing Titan Quest

The last day was spent in KB's room as you might have guessed from the pictures. Whenever you think that your room is dirty enough, just visit his legendary abode and you will find yourself clean and pure. We went out to see the city of Gothenburg on the last day. The city is quite big, almost as big as Helsinki. The best thing about KB's place was that it was 5 minutes walk from his university and about 15 minutes walk from the city.

In the city

at the docks

We roamed around the markets, got to the harbour, took pictures here and there and finally ended up at KB's place with the intention of playing something. The better part of the day was spent installing world of warcraft on our machines and setting up the network. Even though I had told KB that we'll spend the night playing together, but I was so tired of waiting that I hit the bed for 2 hours or so.

Me in front, nude in background ;)

World of Warcraft woes

and I sleep...

Then Kb went to drop me off at the bus station from where i took the bus to the airport, where i boarded the Blue1 flight to Helsinki and i was in Helsinki at about 11 am. An hour's ride back to my place and then I slept for 7 hours, got up, ate and then slept for 9 hours more. Even then I was tired the whole week and was not able to do much at work.

You can't imagine how hard it is to make KB smile like that

That puts an end to my Swedish trip and all the stories related to it. Personally, I enjoyed the trip a lot as it was fun all the time as me and KB had loads of time together where we talked about all sorts of things. Of all the things that i have missed here in Finland are like minded friends with whom I can talk on almost anything. Its not to say that I did not find good friends here, its just to say that its totally different when it comes to people with whom you have spent some 4 years of your life together. They know you much better than anyone else and you know them the same way.

The Helsinki Airport: carrier has arrived

To me, the highlight of any trip is the company. I hate travelling, but when I have great company, I love to do it. Next travel plans are for Germany, where me, saqib, kiani, raza and maybe KB will come together for a long road trip to munich and berlin. Great company, with money to spend and 7 days to enjoy is really going to be something. I am already very excited about the trip... I just hope that it doesnt end in a disappointment.

Thats it for now and oh, now that I have my camera, i might be a bit more regular in posting stuff.

Last but not the least... RESPEKT!

Naach Basanti!

Wonderbase, Sweden, day03

The second wonderbase day was full of disappointment. First, i got a match with the best player of the tournament, who was pretty adept with protoss vs protoss game. So I lost two straight games, which put me in the loser's bracket. This meant that I had just one chance and that too against a player whom i had defeated in two straight games when we were having a friendly match. But as you know, when you need to get something done right, everything gets bad, or wrong.

During the game, if I had stuck to my usual safe protoss game, i wouldve been in a better position. but i tried to do reaver drop and got many things wrong. First off, I forgot to make the srop ship at a critical time, which got everything delayed for me. the reaver drop got delayed, i got into a bad position and was easily killed off by the other player. So, as the saying goes, shit happens.

KB had better luck as he got the easiest player of the lot in his loser's bracket. this meant that he will b able to play a few more matches bfore he is knocked out.But, he lost eventually and both of us were out of the tournament. We stayed there over night and then set out for Gotenburg at noon. The tornament was beingheld in boras btw.

This is how we look after 3 days of non stop gaming and no washing

On our way back, I had to say skeletaun to make KB smile... sameer's sameeries always work

Another fun thing about the trip was that, we went to city center about 4-5 times during the 2 days that we spent there and every time, we got lost. every time, we used to take the wrong road or the wrong turn and ended up in the middle of nowhere. The only good thing about it was that, this gave us ample time to catch up on our past 2 years away.

Tired in the bus

As of now, I am sitting in a bus going to Gotenburg from Boras. I have not washed for 3 days now, so at least, getting to KB's place will give me an opportunity to fresh up. Oh, and I have finally started to like Facebook as I did not know till now that it has these really cool applications which are a lot of fun. I created my very own Simpson's avatar Sine using one of its many applications. SinceI am writing this blog on notepad, so if I do not forget, I will upload it up too with this blog. OK, i think its time that I start enjoying myself a bit, so I am starting a game now. KB is button mashing on my PSP at the moment so you guys cannot talk to him. Till next time, ta!

Standing by the new beetle

before the dinner

In the Simpsons

Wonderbase, Sweden

The good thing about being abroad is that, it is really easy to travel from country to country if you feel like doing. Kashif Bhatti had been inviting me to Gothenburg, Sweden for about one year now. Previously, I never could find a good enough reason to travel, but with wonderbase, it was easy to get me attracted and i ended up being in Sweden this weekend (31-08-2007)


I had a flight at 715 am on Friday, which meant that I should get up at around 430 in the morning. I got up, got ready and was at the bus stop at 521 am. 10 minutes of wait and then i was on the bus off to airport. Once you get to the airport, everything seems so daunting and you stand there clueless as to what to do. Another reason for it is that, you should relieve yourself when you get the need, or your mind is always worried about that. So after relieving myself, i read on one of the screens that, my flight was from terminal 3, not 2 as it said on the online booking. Yes, I booked the tickets online, so you only go to the check in and show them your passport and you are good to go.


Taking the window seat, I was in the flight and off to Sweden at the right time. KB got to the airport in about 30 mins after I arrived and then we stood at the bus stop to wait for the bus. When you are with KB, always be extremely vigilant, or you will miss your bus like we did :). KB did not think about asking that small van stopping right in front of us to go to Boras. So, 2 hours of wait at the airport, got us our bus, with which we went to Boras. When we arrived, KB said that we need to take the bus 4 5 0. Either he said it 405, or i thought that he said 405, the bus stop where we got off had a bus numbered 405. I told KB, look it says 405 at the bus stop sign that listed all the buses. KB never bothered to correct me, and we stood at the wrong bus stop waiting for the wrong bus for about 30 mins more. Finally, we figured out our mistake and then got to the correct bus stop and then took the correct bus. It wouldn't had been this bad it wasn't raining at that time.


When we finally reached the place, there were hardly 20 people there and the place was being set up. We stayed there for a while, got hungry, went out in the rain to get something to eat, got wet and then came back with nothing and then went out again after 2 hours' wait. we got to eat at a snack shop and when we got back after 3 hours or so, the place was jam packead. it felt as if people had gone through bacterial mitosis (you can tell from the pics can't you?)

Then we had a few brood matches with some new friends that we made and those were all good games. Those guys had one player short for CS, so I have joined them for that and they needed a guy for DOTA, so KB has joined them for that. At around 1230, I went to sleep using my inflatable mattress and got up at around 6 because i was too cold. Then found KB who was sleeping on a row of seats, gave him my sheet and came here to write my blog.


Brood tournament will start today and it is double elimination, which means, if you lose twice, you are out. Lets see how well we end up doing here. Oh, btw thee is pic below is of the guy who was handing us our behinds... he is 17.