Installling Tiny Core OS on USB Drive

Wanted to experiment with a new operating system so I decided to give Tiny Core a try. It is an operating system that is only about 12 MB in size and should easily fit in a USB drive.

Here is the steps I went through using Windows 7.

• Download the Tiny Core 12 MB .iso file from  http://distro.ibiblio.org/tinycorelinux/downloads.html
• Download core2usb from  http://sourceforge.net/projects/core2usb/. This program will help install Tiny Core on your USB drive. You have to format your USB drive first. (right-click on it and select format and choose FAT32 for the file system and put a check box on quick format).
• I then ran core2usb. Below is a screenshot of the program.

• First, browse to the directory where you downloaded your Tiny Core .iso file. 
• Make sure that you double-click on the USB drive that you just formatted. Be sure that this is the correct drive letter for the USB drive. If it is a valid drive, the INSTALL button will no longer be grayed-out. The status line to the left of the INSTALL button should indicate whether or not the installation was successful.
• Reboot your system, then go into BIOS, usually by pressing DEL just when the computer is starting up. Look for options to boot from the USB and make sure these are enabled. BIOS differ from one computer manufacturer to another so you'll have to explore your own BIOS options. If you have an old machine, then booting from the USB may not be an available option at all and this guide would have been pointless for you.
• If you are sure that you can now boot from the USB drive, choose that option the next time your computer restarts. You should then be able to see a DOS like screen with several options for Tiny Core. Just choose the default option. Wait through a few more DOS like screens, and you should be able to see the desktop below.

  

The next challenge is connecting to the Internet to get all the applications (which Tiny Core calls extensions) from sites like  http://distro.ibiblio.org/tinycorelinux/tcz.html

Unfortunately, I can't seem to get my Internet connection up and running while I'm using Tiny Core since it requires several extensions which I need to install. But installing these seems to be difficult without a good background on Linux commands and on using the vi editor.

But if the Internet connection was up and running, I would imagine installing additional applications would be as simple as adding extensions to Google Chrome or add-ons to Firefox.

Hope this guide was useful in some way. 

Miami Heat are the 2012 NBA Champions

You would think that the biggest name of the night would be Lebron James, or Dwayne Wade, or even Chris Bosh. Perhaps it could even be Mario Chalmers, Shane Battier, or Udonis Haslem. But the biggest star of the night, on perhaps the most important game of the Finals, came from a veteran plagued with injuries who is rumored to be retiring this season. And that player was none other than Mike Miller. He shot several threes, allowing the Heat to build an insurmountable margin and coast through the 5th game of the Championship. And this guy showed a lot of heart, diving for loose balls and taking charges despite all the injuries compared with Lebron James had to be taken out in Game 4 due to cramps. What a fitting way for Miller to end a career, if he decides to do so. If not for his heroics, Miami could have lost, and gone back to Oklahoma to lose the series, knowing James lack of ability to gain the win when the game is on the line.

And it is about time Miller earned his paycheck, being the 4th highest paid player on the Miami Heat roster, after the Big Three. Wade, Bosh, and Lebron had ok stats for a winning game, but really no defining moment compared to the daggers Miller let loose whenever the Thunder tried to cut down the lead and get back. And from a psychological standpoint, Miami's bench gained confidence from the cushion built by Miller's scoring. Almost everyone from Chalmers to Battier were shooting like they could not miss from beyond the arc. And outside shooting made the Thunder spread their defense further from the rim, allowing uncontested drives and dunks from cutting Heat players.

James finally has a crown. Will it be the first of many, or the one and only? See you next year when we can both find out.   

Monitoring Internet Disconnections

If you have a crappy DSL provider like BayanTel, you can monitor the number of times you have been disconnected in an hour using Windows 7's Event Viewer. I have also set up a poll because I am curious to find out the percentage of internet users who suffer from internet disconnections on a regular basis. I will keep this poll active for a year. So if you have a crappy ISP, vote on the poll and give us truthful data on how often your internet connection goes out.

Now back to monitoring your disconnections. First, click on the Start Button (The Windows Logo on the bottom left of your screen), then right-click on Computer and select Manage.

Next, follow the tree below until you get to the Windows Folder. So you start from Computer Management > System Tools > Event Viewer > Application and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows

Once under the Windows Folder, look for Network Profile from a long list of folders, and then click on Operational.

If you look at the right window pane, you should now have a list of all the times your computer has disconnected from the Internet.

All Event IDs that are 10001 represent disconnections. And as you can see, in a span of roughly an hour, BayanTel's connection has disconnected about 4 times. The good thing about Event Viewer is that you can pinpoint to the exact minute of the day that the network connection was lost.

You can also run ping continuously from the command line. Just click the Start Button, type cmd on the search box, and then type ping -t 202.78.97.41 on the C:\> prompt. You should see a list of pings (or Reply froms) as long as there is a connection present, and then see a list of Request timed outs once the connection has been cut off. You can verify that this coincides with the Event Viewer 10001 ID by checking the time this has happened on your system clock (lower right corner of the screen).

Perhaps I should compile a week's worth of data and send it to BayanTel's senior management. And yes, I have called them countless times, but they have not found a suitable solution to this problem and they want me to live with it.

Don't get locked in to a long-term contract. Don't even apply for BayanTel. You will regret it.

Alteil Set 11: Mermaid Harpist

One of the surprisingly powerful cards out of Alteil's Advent of the Sun Expansion is a common card called Mermaid Harpist. It reminds me of another common card, Storm Wizardress that has become a staple in Wizard Kingdom files combined with Volfied, or Giant Squid files, or even Big Falkow files.

Mermaid Harpist IMHO has the potential to make mermaid decks into another commonly used meta file. Let's check out this card.

The strength of this card lies in it's Open Skill. Imagine an opponent's side full of mermaids which you just happened to wipe out, say with Allind, or with Afel, or even Game Over. Is the mermaid player at a disadvantage? Hardly. All he has to do is play this card on the succeeding turn, and as long as there is an open or closed unit on the field to return, all the mermaids in the field are revived. As if Emana's revive skill were not enough, mermaids get another reviver in the Harpist.

The way I have seen this card abused in Folrart is that the mermaid player will return the copy of Mermaid Harpist already on the field next turn by using another Mermaid Harpist. So even if you field wipe his units that turn, he simply keeps repeating this cycle, since he has 2 free SP given each turn. The only way to break the cycle would be to drain his SP, using shade for example, so that he cannot play Mermaid Harpist on the next turn. (But he might opt to sacrifice one closed unit for SP). Perhaps one can try to prevent any open of closed unit from being returned (but highly unlikely because of the field wipe). Finally, one can probably play a card like Stronghold to decrease the Refess level from one to zero.

It's Start skill even provides AGI advantage. And being a level 2 unit, Emana can always revive it, and sacrifice herself only to get revived by a second copy of Mermaid harpist, that will also return the first copy of harpist, and the cycle again continues and is difficult to break.

Newbies and free players will probably be able to take advantage of common cards like these. Its good to know that there are alternative deck strategies opened up by non-rare cards like Mermaid Harpist. Doesn't have to be a 5-star to be a game changer.

Alteil Set 11: Beast Emperor / Rivera

For a time, once of the most dominant decks in Folrart was BKR (Beast King Rivera). But with the entry of Brave Hero Dilate, it seems that many Gowen players have removed BKR from their decks in preference of Dilate. Perhaps BER (Beast Emperor Rivera) will bring back the popularity of BKR decks. Check her out.

Rivera is faster now with 4 AGI, tougher with 70 HP, and stronger with 60 ATK, albeit at a higher SP cost since she is now a level 6 unit. But achieving a Gowen level of 6 should be easy if you use Winston before her. BKR and Winston can start off early, while BER ends up as one of your end game units. 

As an end game unit, you will rarely be able to take advantage of her Counter Skill if your field has been well developed. She will probably have two to three friendly units with you by that time. But if ever she's alone, you can even trigger this skill with a rightly timed salamander to engage a potential enemy threat.

Her Action Skill, Scarrion's Memory, is a great waiting move, and should stack with the ATK bonus already given by BKR's auto skill. And if BKR happens to be alive by the time you put BER on the field, that's a possible 15 permanent ATK buff per turn for all friendly units.

Finally, her other Action Skill, Sword of Orthos is great for bypassing DEF and for dealing with cemetery recycling decks like undeads, Ascarat, Skeleton Master, and True Emperor Retear. It even engages the enemy unit it hits, which more than compensates for the weak Counter Skill.

Overall, a great addition to Mid Level Gowen decks. Perhaps BKR decks will now be renamed BER. 

Alteil Set 11: King of Mankind / Verlaat

Alteil has launched Set 11 today and out of the new card set, one of the most anticipated cards would be King of Mankind (KoM) / Verlaat and how it will affect the Refess Sphere. Refess Solar Kingdom has seen a decline in play ever since Holy Knight Lapierre and Kaldrao were nerfed. Is KoM Verlaat the solution? Will Solar Kingdom once again become OP? Let us analyze this card.

The card is level 5 which means that it will take some time before KoM Verlaat can be played on the field. His AGI of 4 is pretty good for a big unit, and his DF makes him a pretty decent front liner. His card type is Solar Kingdom which means that he will benefit from Folrart Knight Captain, Safiria and Aliria. The Royalty subtype allows you play Priestess of the Royal Guard on him to gain an attack immunity for the turn.

His Start Skill will benefit all Solar Kingdom units except himself. And while the ATK does not stack, it is still a decent boost for a full field every turn. Makes you wonder if KoM Verlaat will be a key component in a Solar Kingdom rush file. Watch out for Shining Knigt Zero though (a case where the added DF is bad).

His Open skill reminds me of Storm Wizardress' open skill. But it is dependent on the number of units in your field. The more friendly units you have, the more enemy units you can engage. Again, developers are probably hinting at the possibility of building a Solar Kingdom rush file. SP wise though, it doesn't seem to match if the crucial unit is a level 5 unit. We'll just have to see how ingenious players in Folrart will get.

His Action skill reminds me of Bringers, but it is instead, dependent on the number of friendly units on the field. And instead of healing himself fully, he heals the entire friendly field 20 HP, for a cost of 1 SP. While not as great as HK Lap's auto heal, it is still better and will probably be complemented well by Safiria. It is also a bane to undead units, since it is a MAX HP reduction.

The irony is that his Soul skill will probably be a good addition to an undead deck or decks relying on high HP buffs like Annette and Alraune.

Overall, a card that makes great first impressions. Can't wait to try it out!!! 

Alteil US is Closing Down

Alteil made the sad announcement earlier today that it is going to close down. Below is the message from Alteil's website.

This gives players a time frame up to July 23, 2012 to enjoy their favorite game.

I know I for one am disappointed. Although I have not invested any amount in the game, I have been playing it for almost 3 years now and have invested that much time in it. It is sad to see all the time I have spent accumulating cards go to waste. It is even sadder for those players who have actually invested thousands of dollars in the game. If this was a real collectible card game, one could still keep the cards, and perhaps sell it or just keep playing with it. But the problem with an online playground is that once the people running it are no longer earning from it, it is shut down.

What surprises me is that gaming sites like Yahoo Games and Ikariam are still around, and have existed longer than Alteil. And I am doubtful that Yahoo Games acts as a major revenue provider for Yahoo. But I guess the major difference between Yahoo and Alteil is the player base. Almost everyone can find a game that they would like to play on Yahoo Games. But Alteil is not for everyone.

I would like to think that there is still hope for Alteil US. Perhaps another investor would like to purchase it from its current owners and try to change or tweak their revenue production model. Alteil is a game to the players, but a business to the owners. And if a business is not earning any money, it will close down.

Part of me wants to believe that this might be an April Fool's prank. But that date has long since passed. Perhaps it is a marketing gimmick for Alteil's Set 11 (logo seen above). But the message above shows that they are releasing it for FREE, perhaps as an act of good will to all the players that have supported the game. And releasing it for FREE just makes the closing down of Alteil more real.

Perhaps I would have to learn Japanese so that I can shift to Alteil 2 instead. Perhaps Alteil 2 US is the next chapter in this book.

Thanks to the makers of the game. I wish it would not end.

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