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Razer Lycosa gaming keyboard - featuring a slick all black exterior and fearsome LED keys, this exclusive Razer gaming peripheral is the best we have seen yet from the world renowned gaming company. Sporting features even the Tarantula does not possess, this keyboard should be on the very top of every gamer’s wish list.

Like the Lachesis and Tarantula, this keyboard is named after a type of nocturnal and venomous wolf spiders. The Lycosidae have good eyesight and are capable of rapid movement to retreat as well as to attack.

The first thing that attracted me to the Razer Lycosa was the keys. I find it very apt that this keyboard was named after a nocturnal arachnid. The Lycosa features adjustable backlighting for every single key. Once plugged in, the entire keyboard lights up with a menacing blue hue. The WSAD keys are further illuminated, brighter than the surrounding keys, designed in mind for First Person Shooters (FPS) players gaming in low-light conditions. This unfair advantage in low-light environment can prove to be the deciding factor in competitive games.

Another apparent feature is the Lycosa’s compact design. It is less than 47cm long and about 22cm wide inclusive of the wrist rest. It is extremely lightweight, the perfect keyboard to bring for LAN parties and gaming outings. My favourite part of the Lycosa is the non-slip rubber keytop finishing. Unlike the plastic feel of normal keys, Lycosa keys prevent any accidental slipping and hitting of wrong buttons. The rubber finish makes typing and hardcore mashing of keys very much easier and very much more comfortable.

Similar to the Tarantula, all keys are fully customizable. Macro keystrokes as well as other buttons can be bound to each individual key and as such, each of the keys have the potential to become helpful hotkeys. The Lycosa’s onboard memory allows the key configurations to be saved to a profile and allow users to load different profiles with the respective programs. Another useful function is the ability to turn off the annoying Windows key. Often games are interrupted by the accidental touch of the Windows key, bringing the user back to the desktop. This problem can be avoided by shutting off the Windows keys during gameplay. Also boasting a touch panel, the Lycosa offers convenient access to multimedia functions. The Lycosa offers users the highly dependable anti-ghosting capability that is characteristic of Razer keyboards. This effectively eliminates lag or unresponsiveness from keys and is a very crucial function in fast paced games like FPSs.

After going through detailed specifications for both the Razer Tarantula and Moshi Celesta in my previous reviews, the Razer Lycosa is actually my favourite choice. The Lycosa is a mix of the pros of both the Celesta and Tarantula - the flat keys, rubber keytop, anti-ghosting capability, customization functions and so on. The compactness of the gadget also means that it will not hog up space on my desk, it even frees up one USB port for my mouse (it has a USB port and headphone jacks attached).

Despite the numerous useful functions and features, the Lycosa does have its rants. On the very top would be the considerable price tag. For a casual gamer, this price tag would not be justified by the uses of the Lycosa. Furthermore, the earlier versions of the keyboard had ridiculous bugs and glitches. The key lighting would dim and fade off by itself, keys would not respond and the keyboard cannot be detected. Luckily many of these problems have been rectified by Razer firmware and users now get to fully enjoy the Lycosa without the irritation of the numerous glitches.

The Razer Lycosa gaming keyboard is one of the quietest keyboards I’ve ever used, and it has comparable key response times in juxtaposition to high end gaming gadgets like the Razer Tarantula and the Logitech G15. This is definitely a handy asset for gamers and its advantages far outweigh the potential problems that it might cause.

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Frontlines: Fuel of War is one realistic scenario depicted in this new PC game from Kaos Studios. The year is 2024 and the future seems hopelessly bleak as the world powers are embroiled in a global conflict because of an energy crisis. Gas and oil supplies dwindle, prompting a mad scuffle between major powers to establish control over the remaining stashes of fossil fuel. The main players are the Western Coalition, formed by the United States and the European Union, and the Red Star Alliance, consisting of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China. Certainly, the problem of diminishing fuel supplies is one problem which is rooted in current-day context.

This is a First-Person Shooter (FPS) and in my opinion, all FPS should belong solely to the PC, thus this review would be focused on the PC version and not the Xbox 360 one. The main defining characteristic of Frontlines is the presence of a ‘frontline’ in combat (no pun intended). The player assumes control of a trooper on either faction and takes part in an entire series of battles in the single player campaign. Players have to perform various tasks to advance their own frontline, including things like capturing satellites or detonating enemy structures. The game makes use of the famed Unreal 3 Engine to produce some spectacular combat effects and display.

Apart from the usual arsenal of weaponry likes rifles and machineguns, Frontlines stand out from other FPS like Call Of Duty 4 because of the presence of remote-controlled drones. These drones are machines that can be controlled remotely by the player’s character and can be used to scout enemy territory or even carry out an assault mounted on their own. These drones offer more gameplay dimension to this FPS as this is no longer about running straight into enemy lines with guns ablazing. Tactics come into play more than ever, and players will find themselves performing flanking maneuvers and so on.

The biggest rant that I have about Frontlines is how the storyline is restricted by the single player campaign. Every mission, although the backdrop is different, is similar as players will be deployed on the frontline to establish control over territory by overrunning the enemy forces. Doing this repeatedly really decreases the longevity of the game a significant bit. Furthermore, the AI allies are decent but of course, AI being AI, they often make use of the same old tactics and moves over and over. This gets monotonous after some times.

This game, however, really shines on multiplayer mode. With up to 50 players on a single map, it is tremendous fun especially when you’re hooked up together on TeamSpeak or Ventrilo. Players now have the freedom to dictate tactics and strategies on the spot to counter the opponents’ advances. In this aspect, the usage of drones becomes all the more important as reconnaissance is now of paramount importance.

Although this is a decent FPS, I can foresee many not liking this game due to its repetitive nature of missions. The array of weapons and vehicles available for use seems large, but people do get bored doing the same old thing even with new tools. Adding more depth in the single player campaign might put Frontlines: Fuel of War in contention with powerhouses like Call Of Duty 4. Right now, Frontlines is nowhere near the standard of these ‘Game of the Year’ nominees.

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Many might be wondering why I’m bothering to do a write-up on a 3-year-old, GSM cell phone from Nokia. Recently, my Samsung U700 was sent to service for some hardware problem and I had to rely on my old Nokia 7270 as my only means of mobile communication. Imagine, downgrading from a stylish 3G mobile phone with a 3.2 megapixel camera to a blocky GSM one with only a VGA camera; most people would not be pleased with this transition. However, as I found out, things were not as bleak.

During these weeks when I had to make use of the 7270, I realized that this was a very reliable and durable mobile phone. This phone model was launched in early 2005 - that’s 3 years ago! At the current rate that mobile phones are launching and disappearing, being sufficiently useful even after 3 years is actually quite an astonishing feat. SMS functions are standard; this keypad is actually my favourite out of all the phones I have used. I have never used a better keypad, be it in practical terms of aesthetic. There was no problem for me typing text messages without looking at the keypad. Calling functions are standard, with good audio clarity. Call logs and other features are standard functions in a Nokia phone and still remain extremely useful.

To my surprise, this phone actually supports MP3 playback. I remembered during that time, MP3 playback was recently introduced into mobile phones and the feature was so sensationally hyped up. Thus, this phone spared me the embarrassment of using a MIDI ringtone while my U700 was on hiatus. The VGA camera, though, was a horror to use. In this day and age, where integrated cameras in mobile phones are almost or even on par with quality and performance of a digital camera, this VGA produces some photographs of abhorrent quality. Anyone who is still using this phone can give the camera a skip.

One downside that I discovered after a few hours is the incompatibility between 3G SIM cards and GSM phones. My 3G SIM card could hold up to 1000 contacts and profiles, however when used in the 7270, it only displays the first 250 contacts that were saved (non-3G SIM cards have a 250 contact limitation). Also, its extremely limited phone memory means weekly clearing of the message inbox and outbox, this is a particular hindrance if the user is a hardcore ‘text-er’.

Despite its humble appearance, Nokia 7270 is a very durable basic cell phone. It has satisfactory calling and messaging features, as well as a GPRS WAP browser. It even has a changeable skin - choose from either black or red velvet skins or just opt for a bare metal outlook. The features are no match for many of the phones in the market today but this remains my ideal choice as a spare, backbone phone.

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We all know how monotonous a long day at work can be, and we all know how easy it is to get caught while surfing the Web or doing anything else other than work at the workplace. If you get drained out and find yourself nodding off at the office, try www.xkcd.com for something to perk you up. Just as long you manage not to laugh out aloud.

xkcd.com is a comic webstrip that is updated thrice weekly and usually with one strip per update. It is titled ‘xkcd - a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language’ and is written by Randall Munroe. The main page shows the latest strip published and it provides us with navigation buttons. The very useful ‘random’ button is self-explanatory and the one I click on all the time. When you are at work, sneak a peak at one strip here and go back to work. Most of the time, I find the comic strips exceedingly hilarious and it never fails to perk me up from impending slumber.

The unique characteristic about xkcd is that it focuses on, what I like to call, intellectual humour. Most conventional comic strips make use of visual humour, with exaggerated depictions of characters. In contrast, xkcd employs simple stick figures as the characters and instead, relies on text to deliver the punchlines. Drawings are usually simplistic (I say usually, because there are times when comic strips are published in all their visual glory) but ample to draw a laugh out of the reader.

The crux of xkcd is the writing and mostly it does not fail to shine. Personally, I had a good time trawling through the archives and enjoying a good guffaw at work, as I understood most of the references. Mainly, the inspiration comes from American pop-culture, relationships and even mathematical concepts. However, there were some times when xkcd had me scratching my head in front of the monitor. Some references were rather obscure and I failed to understand the joke completely. This may happen quite often to you if you are not as familiar with American culture or computer terminology as Randall Munroe does have quirky ‘geeky’ inclinations. Many references, although obscure, can still be comprehended by the masses.

xkcd.com does not possess any real storyline, although they are recurring characters. This trait makes it a very good site to pass time in office - you can randomly go in to read a strip or two when you feel like it and you would not be missing anything if you missed an update or two. I would recommend this site to you; if you do have time, try browsing through some of the older strips in the archive, some are really hilarious. The cynical humour and sarcasm is a very delightful change from the conventional Baby Blues and Foxtrot.

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For some reason, Hollywood seems to be obsessed with romance. No matter what sort of film it is, practically every Hollywood production has to have some corny romance thrown in between the two leads. Over the years though, we’ve seen quite a few romance films, some pretty good ones, mediocre ones, and some that make you cringe at how corny or cliche they are. Thankfully, I’m glad to say that Once (2007) belongs in the former group.

Most people might never have heard of Once, which is not surprising considering how it’s a pretty low budget film, not to mention it isn’t even a Hollywood production. Instead, it’s an Irish production, directed by John Carney and starring two relatively unknown leads, Glen Hansard (member of Irish rock group The Frames) and Markéta Irglová, both of which are Academy Award wining singer/songwriters. However, throughout the entire film, neither of the leads are named, even in the credits they’re listed as “Guy” and “Girl”. It starts off as Guy is basking on the streets of Dublin and catches the attention of Girl while playing an original song of his. The next day, Girl brings her spoilt Hoover vacuum cleaner to him after realising his other job is fixing vacuum cleaners. However, before they head to his dad’s shop, they stop by at a music store as Guy requests that Girl play a song on the piano for him. They end up playing a guitar/piano duet of one of Guy’s songs, “Falling Slowly” (which was actually co-written by both Hansard and Irglová). In that scene, you can just about see the sparks of a new relationship beginning to form and from then on, they continue to meet up with each other and grow closer and closer.

However, the great thing about the plot of this film is that unlike other plots, the ending isn’t “happily ever after” (sorry if that was too big a spoiler for some of you). I won’t go into more details about that, you’ll have to watch the movie for yourself. However, the main focus of this movie isn’t exactly the romance, but rather the music. It’s been dubbed to be a “musical film”, kind of like High School Musical, but on a much higher level. For example in HSM, the characters will suddenly break into a song for no reason whatsoever, yet in Once, all the songs are performed in full over the course of the day, without causing the film to skip a beat. It’s as if the songs were meant to be sung at those precise moments instead of them being forced into the film. In fact, the film went on so smoothly that I didn’t really think of it as a musical film until after I read about it afterwards.

And speaking of the music, all of it is pretty good. You won’t find any wild, trashy music here, just very simple melodies (save for Hansard’s octave leaping parts) with minimalistic background music (a piano and/or guitar perhaps) - the recipe for a great soundtrack. After all, it’s on multiple charts (be it Billboard or the US charts), has had 2 Academy Award nominations under its belt. Handsard and Irglová’s “Falling slowly” even managed to clinch the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The soundtrack really is that good and worthy of a 5/5 rating by itself, not bad for a film on a budget of around $250,000.

With a budget that’s only a fraction of other Hollywood productions, don’t expect any fancy camera work here, in fact it almost feels like you’re watching a documentary of Guy’s and Girl’s lives because of the way the film is shot. None of the acting is anywhere near Hollywood level though, but that doesn’t really matter in a film like that. Hansard and Irglová will still manage to charm you with their natural chemistry (in fact they became a couple during/after filming Once) and down to earth acting (as much of the dialogue was made up on the go). The parts of the movie where they really shine are when they’re doing what they do best - singing. After composing those octave leaping melodies, boy can Hansard deliver the vocals.

However, there’s still a deep element of romance involved in the film, and you can’t help but feel frustrated and sad by the time the show ends. I myself am pining for a sequel (Twice?) just so that we can watch the two leads live happily ever after. Unfortunately, that won’t happen since both leads have expressed little interest in continuing to act. It really is an emotional film that will touch anyone’s heart by the time the credits roll.

Once (2007) is another must-watch film, and would be great as a film for couples to watch. It’s all about how two people are deeply affected by each other in a very short period of time, and with great music thrown in for good measure. Be sure to grab a DVD of this movie as soon as possible.

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