By Monty Python
Kane is Alive, and he is back again. I am talking about the third release of the Command and Conquer series, Tiberium Wars, which tells the story of evolution of mankind and a strange but powerful element called Tiberium. Those who remembers the previous title Tiberium Sun, will relish their memory once again, as it is as faced paced and battle oriented as the previous ones. Indeed, Tiberium sun was a ground breaking strategy game by Electronic Arts when it was released, it was focused on battle and war field strategy and less hassle on resource gathering and base building unlike most other games of the genre. It is set in a distant future when the world is divided into two factions, the peace loving Global Defence Initiative (GDI) and their arch enemy the NOD, whose leader is an enigmatic leader only known as Kane.
Although I am not going to compare Tiberium WarS with Tiberium Sun, nevertheless, it is actually interesting to compare many of the units and elements of the game. Tiberium Sun was a 2D strategy game, and EA has made TIberium Wars a full fledged 3D game with awesome graphics engine. The engine is so robust, and so configurable, that players can even run the game in a medium powered PC. Right now, I am playing it in my Brother's PC which has only 2,4 GHz Celeron, with only a built in graphics card. The game runs smoothly albeit a bit slower and with low resolution. However, it still looks great and if you happen to have a state of the art PC, then this will be an eye candy.
Gameplay has been given a major shakeup, and it resembles more the strategy of C & C Generals. However, unlike General, you won't have to click on building units to choose your upgrades and such, there is a handy bar on the right hand side of the monitor (like the older C&C's) from which you can issue commands, even when you are concentrating on the battle field. I am a big fan of the Original Series and hence a little disappointed as some of my favourite unit type and buildings are not recalled here. But that's because this was takes place further into the future when some of the older units have become obsolete. There are no GDI disk throwers this time. Most importantly, they have decommissioned the Mammoth MK II walker (the older fans will remember this behemoth). The new units look a little uncreative and highly similar to C&C Generals type of tanks and such. Still, they are impressive battle machines and I have no complaints on their performance. And oh, by the way, there is a completely new faction of aliens known as Scrin, who are really, well, yacky.
One of the major aspects of the C&C series is its ability to tell a story, through live action shot cut scenes. Tiberium Wars is no different and has a high Octane story. Kane is back, and what else have I got to tell you. The cut-scenes were professionally acted and the animations were great. It gives you the feel of watching and playing through a Hollywood quality sci-fi flick.
The game comes in two DVD's and requires a whopping 5 Gigs of HDD space. It's a bit let down for those who do not have much space. But if you are in the business of being a serious gamer, then this game is for you. Go get it, and have loads of fun.
By Violet
Prison break is one of the new series that has captured everyone's attention with its adrenaline pumping suspense, action and drama. Ofcourse, like any other popular television show prison break also happens to have a heartthrob who can make women go weak in the knees with his killer eyes and smile. Wentworth Miller plays the role of Michael Scolfield AKA Fish AKA Snowflake whose brother Lincoln Burrows was wrongly convicted of the murder of the vice president's brother. Michael now desperate to free his brother has landed himself in the Fox River state penitentiary by faking a bank robbery. Michael, an engineer had access to the prison's structural design that enabled him to make an elaborate plan to free his brother from his death sentence.
Born in June 2, 1972 in the United Kingdom and raised in Brooklyn, New York Wentworth Miller had a small desire to be an actor since his childhood. But he's not one of those actors who drop out of school to pursue their acting career. He actually did finish college. After graduating from Princeton University with a degree in English literature Miller headed to Los Angeles to work in a production company specializing in movies made for television. It wasn't long before Miller's desire of becoming an actor became too hard to resist. Miller's acting career started by landing small roles in ''Buffy the vampire slayer'', ''ER'' and ''Popular''. He also starred in the Hallmark mega series ''Dinotopia''. He appeared in the feature film ''The Human Stain'' starring Nicole Kidman and Anthony Hopkins. Miller then appeared in the movie ''Underworld'' and guest starred on ''Joan of Arc'' and ''Ghost whisperer''. But his acting career flourished after he landed the role of Michael Scofield in prison break for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe for best performance by an actor in a Television series- Drama in 2006.
Prison break is aired on Star world on Tuesdays at 10:30 pm. The producers were planning to make only two seasons but with the gaining popularity they have decided to make the 3rd one!!!
Trivia:
Miller was cast in "Prison Break" because his signature look and acting made him the perfect fit for the character, and later, the breakout star of the 2005 TV season.
During his studies at Princeton University he began to act. He was also a member of the acappella group "Princeton Tigertons", where he sang baritone. They recorded at least two albums during their time.
Wentworth appeared in Gap paper Ads in 2007. He was also one of People Magazine's Most Beautiful People, 2007.
Wentworth had a small role in the short film Room 302 (2001). He is an avid swimmer. Wentworth does not watch Prison Break!
Glass painting is actually an influence of stained glasses. The origins of the first stained glass windows are lost in history. The technique probably came from jewelry making, cloisonné and mosaics. Stained glass windows as we know them, seemed to arise when substantial church building began. By the 10th century, depictions of Christ and biblical scenes were found in French and German churches and decorative designs found in England. In case of stained glass, pieces of coloured glasses are arranged and then put into fire to mix the paint with the glass. Don't worry you don't have to go through so much trouble! I wouldn't want your mother coming running after me...blaming me for the kitchen you burnt!
How to get started?
You need to buy a 'Glass Paint Kit' which costs Tk.190 and is available at places like Etcetra. The kit contains a set of colours 
along with an outliner that is usually black and in some cases gold. Other than that, you need something else. Any guesses? Glass u dummy! What else would you paint on? The glass could be the ones you drink in, you bathroom mirror or even your window. But I would suggest you to rather buy a rectangular piece of glass from the road-side shops. Oh yeah, and you need paint brushes, I would suggest you use the thin ones.
Method
First a traced design is placed on the table and the plain glass is placed above the design, so that the design is clearly seen through the glass. Then using the outliner, copy the design on the glass. If you don't want to do that, you could always go with your mood and draw whatever you feel like without the help of a design. Before getting to the painting part, allow it to dry for some time. Once that is done, just fill the outlines with paint. Its that simple! Just don't try mixing colour on you first attempt!
Ok, so you're first creation might not be exactly marvelous. But as you work on more pieces, you'll get the hang of it and it'll get easier. It sure is a fun thing to do and is great to have as a hobby. Plus, it always feels good to be good at something other than mastering the art of watching TV for an entire weekend!
By Gokhra and Mood Dude
Gokhra (G): Once upon a time in the prehistoric, cave painting/pre-ipod era, someone had an idea.
Mood Dude (DM): Right! And then that person went to lie under an apple tree and fell asleep.
(G):And when the apple landed on the head, the person forgot the idea.
(DM): And then he woke up, thought about the gravity of the situation and ate the apple.
(G):The apple core was thrown away and it rolled down a hill.
(DM): The person then decided to think up a poem about some Neanderthal named Jack who went rolling down a hill in similar fashion.
(G): Instead he decided to invent the wheel which incidentally rolled down the hill.
(DM): Some time later someone attached a horsecart to the wheel and decided it would be fun to also attach a horse to it. Put all together it made a nice vehicle.
(G): Then a wiseguy thought, what would happen if we add another horse to the cart? Or ten more? Faster? Big accidents? Hell yeah!
(DM): That's called improvisation. It's great tool for brainstorming and writing. It can also go completely out of hand. Especially when you are building something to help you go faster. For some people the word 'limit' is not much of a word. It's a meaningless scribble.
(G): The Rapom V8 is one such invention that has crossed the limits of 'limits' several hundred turns of a wrench ago. Built in UK it is probably the most powerful bike in the world. More than the monstrous Dodge Psychobike with the Viper engine. While that had around 500 bhp this has 1000.
(DM): Created by Nick Argyle, a 44-year old engineer from the Cotswolds, the huge 8.2 litre supercharged engine comes from his 'Monster Truck'. It is five times more than the output of Kawasaki's ZZR-1400, the world's fastest production motorcycle.
(G): The Rapom V8 was created in Argyle's garage after he sold his 'Monster Truck' chassis and wanted to build another small project. A bike it had to because he only had the house garage to work in. He was going to buy another engine but his wife told him to use the one that was still in the garage. He thought 'Why not?'"
(DM): Sometimes wives can be quite supportive.
(G): More likely she wanted him to clean up the garage using up the old engine.
(DM): The Rapom V8 runs on pure alcohol and cruises at a bank account-draining four miles to the gallon. The bike has been built to fly up the local drag strip, although it is ridden to the circuit.
(G): His insane beast with as much power as a Bugatti Veyron is fully functional and road registered. The monster bike requires a super long chassis end every bit of its kerb weight of 1000lb in order to stop the bike flipping under hard acceleration. We can't quite figure out how you'd leave a T-junction or negotiate a roundabout with those tyres and not to mention the exhausts. For once we agree that this is beyond outrageous.
(DM): I disagree.
(G): Why?
(DM): Oh. Just for the principle of the matter.
