Shameless Plug: $15 Tees + Everything Else on Sale Sale prices as marked. $15 price only applies to Regular T-shirts. Ends 9/12 at 5 PM CT. For more gaming-inspired graphic tees, please visit my Threadless Artist Shop: https://smaaash.threadless.com/ Lance Sison, Rockstar for Hire.Rockstar for hire. I help businesses create memorable branding experiences for their customers. www.arsnovadesigns.com

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#KidForLife (October 12, 2019) This post is a year late, and thanks to COVID-19 most of us are feeling an extra bit older than we should be. But finally having some ‘me time’ to rummage through my photos, I scrolled to this event and couldn’t help but feel nostalgic and remember how this bucket list item made me feel like a child again. Admittedly, I’m a kid for life. And nothing else could better summon the man-child me than being immersed and completely surrounded by video games, vinyl toys and anime culture. Welcome to GameStart Asia 2019 – Southeast Asia’s Premier Game Convention. It has always been a lifelong dream of mine to attend an E3 convention or an EVO event. That’s why when SEA Majors 2019 announced that it was going to coincide with GameStart 2019, I knew I had to beg my wife for the family to spend a weekend for the event. It was so much fun, I can’t even justifiably describe how it felt. Right from the moment we were queueing up, we were surrounded by hoards of local cosplayers (of course I wasn’t be able to take photos of ’em – I didn’t want to push my luck, my lovely wife already agreed to go to the event [love you Mylove] ). And as we went in to the convention hall, we were greeted with a ruckus of video game music and sounds all competing for the attendees’ attention. It’s that familiar feeling that kids who grew up in the 90s get when they enter one of those big video game arcades – it was truly one of the most beautiful feeling in the world. I whispered to myself… “I’m home.” It was really a lot to take in, good thing that both our kids...

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Cowabunga! (October 5, 2017) …was probably the last word in my mind as I struggle to express the unholy mix of sheer excitement and overwhelming horror while I ‘fly’ down across Skyranch Tagaytay’s zipline. A surrendering ‘fuuuck…’ is all I could utter as I behold the majestic view of Taal Lake, Tagaytay and Batangas; and at the same time, horrified by how far deep I’m gonna fall to my demise if anything screws up. No nets, nor a vast body of water underneath were present to break my fall in case of an accident. Only the consolation of a guaranteed swift death in such an event. Still, such a perilous predicament shan’t faze me from getting my PhP500’s worth of adrenaline rush (PhP880 if we’ll include the PhP300 worth of bills and the S$2 money clip that I lost during the ride) and get this item scratched off my bucket list. I must say, the 300-meter long 2-way ride was worth every peso. I enjoyed every inch of it (except for part where you’ll need to climb three storeys worth of stairs). It was truly an exhilarating experience, but something I probably wouldn’t do again any time soon. It’s just not the kind of ‘rush’ I’m into – I’d rather rappel or climb, and not entrust my life on such a small contraption tasked to endure the stress and velocity of hauling 92 kilos of flesh across 300 meters of cabling. I’ve had my fill, I’m good. On the next adventure! Lance Sison, Rockstar for Hire.Rockstar for hire. I help businesses create memorable branding experiences for their customers. www.arsnovadesigns.com

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Be sincere Mean what you say, always follow through. Try not to pay lip service, the truth is often unpleasant but there’s no substitute for it. At the very least, be honest to yourself There will be times when it’ll be most logical or easiest for you to lie, be it to get out of trouble, cope from a failure or maybe cover up a mistake. This happens, I’m just as guilty as the other guy. But don’t ever that think that your lie becomes the truth just because other people believe it. Even if everyone swears true to something you fabricated, it’ll never be the truth. Don’t betray yourself by thinking otherwise. Try things, explore Don’t live inside a bubble, enjoy the unfamiliar. Life is too finite to always be too cautious. Be decisive Make timely decisions, don’t be held up by the fear of making mistakes. In the course of your life, no matter how much you plan and prepare, you’ll inevitably make mistakes. Some negligible, others impactful – learn from all of them. Own up to the mistakes you make The first step to getting over a failure is to accept the fact and admit that you made a wrong decision. Apologize if you must, but always identify where it went wrong and do what you can to make things right. Celebrate your wins There’s no shame in celebrating life’s triumphs. Be it simply patting yourself on the back, or holding a party to commemorate a job well done — don’t be bashful in relishing good tidings. Marry your bestfriend At one point of your relationship, you’ll eventually find someone who’s younger and prettier. But you’ll never find someone else who truly knows and understands you more than your bestfriend. Make sure that she’s already ‘your...

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World’s Cheapest Full Mechanical Keyboard A couple weeks back I had an insatiable itch to get my chubby fingers clickity-clacking on some cherry mx blue keys. But I’m really not down to drop a couple of hundred bucks or more for the current mainstream offering. So I’ve set out for a small project and ‘mod’ my 1st mechanical gaming keyboard with the following specs: TKL (no numpad) White Keycaps with clickity-clackity switches no LED backlight (specially NO sh***y rainbow unicorn multi-coloured lighting) either metallic red or blue WASD keys and different coloured win/command keys The shopping list AULA OFFICIAL F2012 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard USB Wired Keyboard – White (Lazada Singapore | amazon.com) Metallic Blue QWER ASDF Direction 12 Keyset Keycaps (Lazada Singapore | amazon.com) Rubber Dampeners (Lazada Singapore | amazon.com) I was able to procure everything in my shopping list from Lazada Singapore and was able to put everything together this week, below is the unboxing and review of the “World’s Cheapest Full Mechanical Keyboard” — enjoy: tl;dr CONS: Appalling font choice for the keycaps, just no. On macOS, Ghosting occurs on the left side of the keyboard when multiple modifier keys are used along with any keys in the first and second row of letters within the first four columns. Doesn’t happen in Win10. Special characters positioned awkwardly on the keycaps. Non-detachable cord. PROS: Really inexpensive, cheaper than a PS4 controller The AULA blue switches (cherry mx blue clones) aren’t so bad. To be honest, being a mechanical keyboard virgin, I probably won’t notice the difference at this point of time. They’re very clicky, tactile, and so far reliable. Can fit custom keycaps designed for cherry mx switches. Customise to your heart’s content, the PBT keycap sets would most probably cost more than this keyboard. Did I already mention that it’s satisfyingly clicky? full compatibility...

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