USB Virus

If you are a Windows user, I hope this helps you out.

Despite having Panda USB Vaccine installed, I am occasionally hit by a strange USB Virus that changes my USB files into shortcuts. The virus wants the user to think that all the files in the USB have been corrupted and that the only thing left to do is to re-format the USB key, to make it usable.

But don't format just yet. Try to scan your thumb drive first and see if your anti-virus software or malware scanner can clean it.

Next, open up a DOS window by clicking on the Start Icon, then typing CMD on the search box.

Once the command window is open, change to the drive letter assigned to your USB drive, (let's say for the sake of argument, that letter is X:) by typing X: on the command prompt. Now you can run the ATTRIB command on all files in your USB drive. Type help ATTRIB to know more about the command.

The USB virus created shortcuts with the same names as your files and change the attribute of your original files so that they become read-only, and hidden. All you need to do is to remove the hidden, read-only, and system attributes from all the files in your USB drive so that you can see and use these files once more.

Ok, enough explanation, just try typing " ATTRIB -R -A -S -H /S /D X: ". If you are lucky, then the files that you thought were lost should now be seen if you type DIR on the command prompt or open windows explorer and browse the contents of the USB drive. The files should now be re-usable. You can delete the shortcuts created by the virus. And in the future, try to disable autorun on your USB drives.

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Ikariam Port Defense

Prior to version 0.4, a single Ram Ship was considered crucial for defending a city against off-island attackers. Your opponent might send 160 ships full of land units, but as long as you have that single ram ship guarding your port, your city remains safe from pillaging.

But with version 0.4.4, it seems that a single Diving Boat should now be the preferred guardian for a city. Although it will take some time to research and also have higher upkeep, the diving boat has the advantage of not being destroyed in a sea battle as long as there are no other allied ships involved. That means that the diving boat has to be the only ship part of the sea battle against the opponent.

So during times of alliance conflict, all members should have at least a single diving boat in all their city ports. This can make it tough for your opponents since they always have to bring an attacking fleet with them aside from their pillaging land troops. And after they win the battle against that single diving boat, after 4 hours, they will have to deal with it again since the diving boat never dies (4 hours is the time it takes for scattered units to return to their city). Timing is essential in warfare and any delay allows you to ship out valuable resources or ship in reinforcements.

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Restaurant City: New Ways of Earning

Prior to the new update, the only way of earning coins was to rely on selling dishes, picking up trash, shaking trees, and earning from people playing the Arcade Machine. With the latest update of Restaurant City this first week of December 2009, there are now more ways of earning cash without the need for Playfish cash.

• Crazy Planets Pinball - 12,000 coins - more expensive than an 8,000 coin Arcade Machine because it takes 10 games before the need for fixing
• Floating Crystal - 60,000 coins - doubles the amount of money earned from picking up trash
• Wishing Well - 240,000 coins - earn every coin thrown by people in the well

Aside from these new methods of earning, there's new furniture, added player levels, and the new outdoor portion for the restaurant, in case you want your customers to eat in the open air.
New stuff to try out for both old timers and newbies. So is that Restaurant City account of yours long been forgotten? Revive it why don't cha.

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Ikariam Highscore

Hypothesis: By imitating the current top player's strategy, one can find oneself in the top 100 range eventually.

Discussion: Looking at the data below, I came up with the MS / TPS ratio (My Score to Top Player's Score ratio) which will more or less serve as one's strategy guide if one is aiming for the top spot. If everyone were to imitate this strategy though, then getting there might take longer. Whoever has the will to continue expanding while being able to resource manage efficiently will last out other players in the game whose interest eventually wanes =D. (Can't have an angry population now, can we).

Also of interest are the areas in Ikariam which seem to contribute to the top player's ranking. She (assuming the player is female) ranked 1st in Master Builders, Research Levels, and Scientists. But in the area of Build Levels, she ranked 9th, in Generals, she ranked 1909th (giving me more reason to suspect that the player is female since most males are war freaks =D ), and in Gold Stock, she ranked 1881th. So I am assuming that it is more important to have a lot of colonies, and to keep on researching rather than pillaging and blockading ports.

One way to prove this hypothesis is if I eventually become a top 100 player. But pillaging and going to war is so much more fun =) Anyway, for those chasing after a high ranking, try to make sure that your MS / TPS values are near 100% in the areas that the Top Player in your world is excelling in. And if you beat her in the other areas as well, then you might end up being the Top Player instead. Now, I gotta get back to gaming. Have fun!!!

Server 1 Data:

Comparison	My Score	Top Player's Score	MS / TPS
Total Score	9,033	49,285	18.33%
Master Builders	267,380	2,852,305	9.37%
Build Levels	256	431	59.40%
Scientists	73,666	307,786	23.93%
Levels of Research	124	156	79.49%
Generals	97,132	22,660	428.65%
Gold Stock	117,243	240,385	48.77%

NBI Clearance Quality Control

• A Third Trip to the NBI
  • When you are applying for an NBI clearance, it is possible that there are other people with the same name as yours might have committed a crime. If such a person exists, you will automatically get flagged, which is what the NBI refer to as a "hit". I've had an NBI "hit" before, but after a week, I usually just come back to the NBI satellite office and pick up my NBI clearance from their Releasing Department without any trouble at all.
  • But this was the first time I've been asked to come back a third time for an appointment with the NBI. And instead of simply going to their satellite office, they asked me to go to their Quality Control Department in Victory Center Mall, Caloocan City.
• Getting to Victory Central Mall - Caloocan
  • If you are from the Quezon City area, you can take either a bus from Trinoma going to Monumento. From the Monumento Rotunda, the one with Bonifacio's statue, you can talk a long walk going to Victory Central Mall. The NBI offices are located at the 5th level and you might have to take the escalators, or 5 flights of stairs, since elevators are only operational during mall hours. (You typically want to come early so that you can finish early.)
  • An alternative to going there would be by MRT, but from Trinoma, you might have to take a short bus ride to the area after SM North Annex / near Wal-Mart, where the first MRT station with a train going to Monumento is located. The station at Monumento is nearer Victory Center Mall.
• The Quality Control Area - Bring A Lot of Patience
  • If you are not they type of person who likes to read instructions, and instead, asks questions immediately, then prepare to face the wrath of the NBI Quality Control Area. They really dislike being asked questions since they are the ones who are supposed to do the interviewing and questioning. So just follow the instructions on the walls (like writing your full name on the receipt and dropping it in the drop box, then wait for your name to be called).
  • I was fortunate enough to have a "wrong IC" case, wherein the name that was associated with the crime was very different from my name. Even the address and other info about the criminal hardly matched any of mine. So instead of being grilled by the interviewer, I was asked to go to a different area to sort out the misunderstanding.
• Natty Abibas - an example of excellent Government Service
  • Despite the stereotypical perception of Philippine government employees as impatient and corrupt, once in a while, you will find a diamond in the rough. I am fortunate enough to have been helped by Miss Natty Abibas who immediately recognized the NBI's mistake and gave me clear cut instructions on how to resolve the problem so that I could obtain my clearance the same day. She was very patient and had a friendly personality. Contrast this to another employee who was outright mean (one shouted "Matuto po kayong mag-basa!!!" - translated as "Learn to read!!!") and showed you that they were only on the job for the pay, not to serve.
  • Perhaps Miss Abibas was also trying to save face for the NBI, since my having to go there was their mistake. She explained that system errors have a statistical occurrence of roughly 1%. The system matched my surname with the criminal's. I wonder if the NBI's computer system's should be modified so that a full name, age, and address match has to occur before a person is flagged. This can prevent people from experiencing additional hassles in order to clear their name.
• At Least The NBI Caloocan Office Seems to be Less Corrupt
  • Contrast this with the NBI Quezon City office were fixers still hover about despite the Anti-Fixer Streamers posted on the walls. And which fixer in his right mind would give you his name and personal information. He would probably lie and deny outright that he approached you. Maybe Mr. Tulfo should do an expose to catch these crooks and the government employees aiding or benefiting from them.
  • Another NBI Quezon City "racket" is asking for 3 pesos to process your receipt at the releasing window. This is a "finding fee" to locate whether or not your clearance had no problems. There was no "finding fee" in Caloocan. Why didn't the NBI simply add this fee to the receipt if it were a proper fee? Whoever imposed this fee is earning big non-taxable revenue. If 10,000 people were processed in a day, that's a daily revenue of 30,000 pesos, or a monthly revenue of about 660,000 pesos.
  • Alas, there is a business practice in Caloocan similar to one in Quezon City. In Caloocan, there is a vendor selling envelopes for your NBI clearance priced at 5 pesos. Again, a non-taxable revenue stream potentially backed by NBI officials. Considering that the price of a typical short brown envelope is only 2 pesos, then something half as small should not be outrageously priced simply because of a geographic monopoly. Quezon City has tissue paper / wet naps priced at 5 pesos - used to wipe your thumb after they apply the fingerprint on your NBI clearance. Again, this amounts to about 660,000 pesos in monthly revenue if we assume that the cost of the wet nap is about 2 pesos per piece. The person applying your finger print makes you feel that buying the wet nap is mandatory if you are to avail of his supposedly "free" service. Who needs assistance in finger-printing anyway? If they left the ink on the tables, people would do just fine applying their own fingerprints on their own clearance.

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Alteil: EX Langbart

Whenever an EX Set is released, I have always tried to watch out for the next EX Lapierre card. Grabados was the orc's EX Lapierre, and with EX 9, Duchy of Crest decks get EX Langbart.

Let's take a look at his skills.

Burn the Body or He'll Rise

This skill might seem strange for a Lawtia card, since undeads depend on the cemetery for recycling, but Alteil has added a much needed answer to graveyard recycling decks like Undeads and Big Refess (True Retear). Prior to Langbart, you would probably use Orthos (for Refess) or The Forest of Hate (for Gowen), to try to put a stop to the recycling engine.

But the weakness of this skill starts with the "and then" clause. You have to send a card from your cemetery out of the game, before you can send 2 cards from your opponent's cemetery out of the game.

Clear the Way

This counter skill takes effect as long as Langbart's AT is 50 or lower. He gets AT+20 and then damages one random enemy unit in range of 30 HP or lower. From a base AT of 20, you could end up with 60 AT after 2 counters. And the AT boosts are permanent, not unlike most boosts that only last during the turn.

Leader of Knights

While not as potent as EX Lapierre or Grabados' start skill, Langbart serves as another stat booster aside from Afeemina or Crest Paladin. One Duchy of Crest unit gets AT+10 and DF+5 for the turn, except Langbart.

Captain's Honor

In my opinion, this open skill is the reason Langbart is so effective with Crest Lady Paladin. As long as your Refess LV is 0, you get Refess LV=1. Generating an additional SP will always find use in most decks.

On Your Feet Soldier

An alternative to Skeleton Warrior as an SS with 2 LP. It also ends up reviving a closed friendly unit, but I think I would prefer Skeleton Warrior's boost of AT+20 and AG+1 to Langbart's AT+10 and DF+10. But in a deck where attack boosters are aplenty, you might want to opt for the additional DF (unless your packing a Lebeau or Alphonce SS). An unkillable unit is still one of the stronger end games in Alteil (Zugateroza with DF=50 usually means GG ^_^)

Now let's analyze his stats. LV=4 means anti-Return. HP=60 and DF=10 makes him a good tank. And AGI=3 is decent for any front liner. And while his AT starts at 20, Clear the Way, should remedy this initial setback.

So out of the EX 9 cards, I think EX Langbart is the "steal" if you are planning on running DoC. And DoC decks have started popping up in Folrart Arena and even in Tournaments. Have fun experimenting. ^_^

ECS P4M900T-M2 No Sound

After installing Windows 7, my system has no sound. But if I revert back to Windows XP, my system has sound. Have tried several driver downloads but no go. Device Manager simply sees the Audio Driver as “High Definition Audio Device”. Can’t find the motherboard driver installation CD.

If anyone can post a link to the most recent audio driver for this mother board, I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

POSTCRIPT

Finally found the correct driver from ECS’s website, HDA_V500b. Here’s the link.