The Zone

When you think the Japanese are not crazy enough over their hobbies, this piece of news shows you how fandom can get you in trouble. Six bureaucrats from Japan's Agricultral Ministry were reprimanded for editing the Wikipedia entry on Gundams at work. One of them has 260 articles to his name. 260 wikis!!

"The Agriculture Ministry is not in charge of Gundam," said ministry official Tsutomu Shimomura. LOL for us.

In other happenings, there's a new WiFi shirt available for you mobile warriors that goes blink blink whenever you wander towards a WiFi access point. The cooler thing is that the WiFi logo itself is detachable and stuck on to other good things such as your backpack, your car, dog/cat, kid..... It works with Wireless-B and G networks as well!

A quick heads up to competitive gamers, because Intel's mega cyber gaming competition is coming to town! Intel's Rampage Asia cyber-gaming tournament will see 15 countries around the region competing for up to US$70,000 in cash prizes! The games to be played are Warcraft III and Counter-Strike 1.6, which I'm sure many of us players will be well-versed in.

Here's the list of the following 10 cybercafes that will be participating in the tournament. If you register at the selected cybercafes during that period you get a free Intel Unstoppable T-shirt, while the first 20 early birds will get a cap as well.   

Of course if you're too lazy to haul yourself to the cybercafe you can register online at the official webpage at http://intel.wcgzone.com. With just over a week away to the first comp it's time to start breaking out your trash talking dictionary again!

I'm now playing Valve's Orange Box, which comes jam packed with the Half-Life 2 games, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. My favorite game so far is Team Fortress 2 and I'm having a blast playing as the speedy Scout. If you haven't bought the pack, what are you waiting for??? You're practically getting 5 games in one at a low price of RM175. Plus you get a nifty mousepad too! It's seriously one of the best PC game purchases you will make all year.  

That's no typo there. Samsung's introducing a 40" 1080p LCD TV that's only 0.39" thick (10mm). No price or street date on when this incredibly thin screen will hit the market, but we hope they'll at least change the rather anemic-looking stand. The showgirl can stay. ;) 

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Yesterday at the World GameMaster Tournament Malaysia Finals, we managed to cradle Asus' baby of their notebook family, the Asus Eee PC. Unfortunately the battery was flat so we weren't able to check out its OS and applications. We still managed to get a nice, hands on look of its build, interfaces, and features.

Click the jump for more pictures!

Okay, not exactly IT related but Mainichi Daily News have reported that Hollywood is planning a live action movie based on the Dragonball series, with two of the cast members already confirmed for the movie. Copied and pasted from the original source...

Fox said in a statement issued Wednesday in Hong Kong that local comedian Stephen Chow will produce the live action movie "Dragonball" and James Wong, a former writer for the TV series "The X-Files" and director of "Final Destination," will direct.

Chow's credits include "Shaolin Soccer" and "Kung Fu Hustle."

Fox said Justin Chatwin, who played the son of Tom Cruise's character in "War of the Worlds," will portray the lead character Goku and James Marsters is cast as Goku's main enemy, Piccolo.

Marsters played the vampire Spike on the TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

"Dragonball" revolves around Goku's quest to protect Earth from evil forces who want to take over the planet and control mystical objects known as "dragonballs."

Fox said the film, whose budget was not announced, will start shooting later this year and will be released worldwide on Aug. 15, 2008.

Oh God. Oh. My. God. I don't know whether I want to see this train wreck or not, but I'm looking forward to how they're going to incorporate live action Super Saiyan hair when Goku powers up. That scene alone will be EPIC.

ESA to work with the MPA to combat piracy in Malaysia

It looks like the game industry in Malaysia is about to get a huge boost, no less from the Entertainment Software Association themselves. The Escapist reports that the ESA is working together with the Motion Picture Association to increase anti-piracy in Malaysia.

The move is the first coordinated effort put together between the two agencies, and also represents the ESA's first attempt at reducing piracy in Malaysia, where large-scale infringement of intellectual property rights is common. "The ESA focuses resources where we save U.S. jobs, enhance the value of the videogame industry and get results," said ESA President Michael Gallagher. "Piracy penalizes investment and harms the ability of videogame companies to make great games. We are proud to partner with MPA on this program which will protect investment, innovation and job creation - as well as build a strong foundation for expanded trade with Malaysia."

Representative Adam Schiff, co-chair of the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus in the U.S., said, "I'm encouraged by this news and commend this joint enforcement effort. Malaysia has been a nation of concern with regard to international piracy for some time now, and this is exactly the type of private industry support and cooperation needed to crack down on this problem."

This is an encouraging move. For years, game piracy in Malaysia has continued to be a major problem for the game industry in the region. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have been reluctant to launch their games and consoles here due to the lack of enforcement by authorities to stem the sale of pirated games, forcing gamers who wanted to buy original games to parallel import titles and consoles at higher prices. Now with the support of the ESA and public acknowledgement of the seriousness of game piracy here, perhaps we can see some real action taken on combating piracy in the country after all these years.

The Escapist article
ESA press release
Game Politics article

Bernstrand&Co has made an inflatable bikini to protect the wearer from dangers occuring during watersports, such as a sinking or even worse, jetski accident. The pads inflate a woman's assets to improbable proportions, giving much-needed buoyancy to the wearer and protecting her from drowning. Will you ever wear one? (directed to women of course!!)

[From Giz ]

You've seen Hello Kitty on thongs and dildos. Now get ready to impress upon nature with Hello Kitty bicycle tire threads! Isn't there anything that Hello Kitty doesn't whore her name to? Don't know how well it actually grips the road, but wouldn't it be awesome to come across someone run down by a bike sporting one of these with Hello Kitty imprints across his face? Unless you're that someone that is. Available now for the handsome price of US$25.99 a piece.

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Mimos Bhd has announced that they're releasing a low-cost computer dubbed the "Mak-Chik" computer for rural users. The model can be plugged into a TV and comes with a wireless Internet connection. The price? Only RM500. The Mak-Chik computer is expected to be released in the first half of 2008.

I haven't seen any pictures of this new "Mak-Chik" computer but it's a pretty neat idea. Will this be a strong contender to Asus' own upcoming Eee PC desktop model? I'm really curious how its specs will be like. 

I'm not sure what to make of the rumors that Sony plans to revive their little robotic canine companion by integrating it with the Sony PS3 and PSP; it sounds like a neat idea in theory, but whether it will actually be successful is another thing.

I remember coming across the Aibo a few years ago in a Sony showroom in Sydney and while I was impressed with it, I wasn't compelled to buy it. The original Aibo was a very expensive toy, and coupled with the expensive PS3, I doubt it will fly off the shelves. It should make an interesting technological showpiece though. Plus you don't need to worry about toilet training it.

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Can't stand to do anymore Christmas shopping? Drop by the PLAYex! 07 exhibition this weekend from the 14th to 15th of December at MidValley Exhibition Centre, KL, as the latest exhibition to celebrate games, gadgets, comics, and figurines will go live!

Besides huge discounts on popular games, there will be mini DotA and Counter-Strike competitions, trading card battles, online games showcase courtesy of MyCNX, Gundam figurines exhibition, and other cool stuff to check out! GameAxis Unwired Malaysia will also be there so don't miss out on our special promotions and games! :3

PLAYex! 07 Official Website 

For the last few months, HWM Malaysia ran a series of Photo-Video guides sponsored by Sony, as seen above. What do you think of it? We value your feedback so if you found it insightful or useful, let us know! Likewise, if you thought that it could be improved, shout out about it here.

Too shy to comment here for fear of exposing your email address? Send your feedback to editorial@my.hardwaremag.com. The best feedback or comment will get a FREE Kingston 2GB DataTraveler USB Flash Drive. Only open to residents living in Malaysia! Closing dateline is next Friday, 21st of December 2007, so don't miss out on this one time offer!

(BTW when we say best feedback/comment, we don't mean 'best attempt to butter up to us'. The most constructive and useful feedback will earn the prize so don't just say "Yeah I think your guides were okay" or "Your guides suxkz0rrs") 

(image credit = Boing Boing) 

Yesterday, the 28th of January marked the 50th anniversary of the LEGO brick. To celebrate this occasion, the LEGO store is offering 100 new items. What a wonderful time to spend all those angpows! We thank Ole Kirk Christiansen for his wonderful contribution to the world and to the many hours spent constructing cars, robots, planes and even whole communities! Happy Birthday LEGO! 

With today being the last day of the Chinese New Year, we would like to extend our heartfelt wishes to your health and wealth! No, the Choi Sun above does not have a mustache, thanks to Gillette.