When my mom-in-law asked me to get a new PC for the house a few months back, I straight away went to the Dell website to look for a cheap system. I'm not really a fan of Dell computers, having had TERRIBLE experience with them during my IT Manager days at the office. However, for a small fee they do have a comprehensible warranty package, which covers EVERYTHING for 3 years, including accidental damages.
So, AS EXPECTED, the brand new Dell PC failed to work after ONLY a few months. Switch it on, and NOTHING happens, apart from a louder than usual whirring of the cooler fan. This was the time then to make the extra dosh spent on the warranty pay. Unfortunately, it happened on New Year's Day. Called the number, Answering Machine Man said that they're not available on public holidays. Didn't call them them on Friday as I forgot to bring the PC serial number with me to work, so tried again on Saturday. Guess what? Answering Machine Man says that they're not available on weekends too. So far so bad. Called them again on Monday nevening after work. Voila! This time wasn't Answering Machine Man at the end of the line but Mr Technician Guy (TG from now on). Explained the problem to TG, and he asked me to carry out some diagnostic tests on his behalf.
At first, the tests were simple enough - switch off the PC and on again (DUH!), disconnect everything bar the monitor cable and see again if the problem persists. Still no change. Next test then - set the CPU on its side, OPEN the casing, and remove both sticks of RAM!!! The whole reason I opted for the full warranty was that it would make it easier for my mom-in-law and my wife's zero-technical-expertise siblings to simply call Dell whenever there's a problem with the PC, so that they won't be too dependent on me. HOW ON EARTH would you expect a 50+ year old lady or worse, a 12-year-old child, to open the CPU casing (using a screwdriver which Dell do not ask you to have beforehand) and remove the all-too-fragile RAM sticks? Thing is, I doubt most people even KNOW what a RAM stick is in the first place, let alone remove the safety and (gently) pull it out!! Of course, this was bread-and-butter for me, but I did inform TG of my concern. What if the RAM is removed wrongly, or inserted again the wrong way, and it breaks? "Oh, don't worry, the warranty will cover that", was the answer. Okayyyyy, but what if something worse happens, say the wrong components or wires are pulled out, resulting in the user getting an electric shock!!?!?!??
Why can't the technician just come over once a report has been made, without all this fuss? "Oh, we need to run the tests so that the technician can bring the required items", TH replies matter-of-factly. B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T. You know EXACTLY what components I have, down to the individual serial numbers for all the components, so I see no reason why the technician can't just come over with spare parts for ALL the components, do the tests HIMSELF, and replace whatever needs replacing. The call lasted quite some time, including time spent to look for a screwdriver, remove the screws, restarting the PC numerous times, and putting everything back together again. And in the end the problem was not resolved over the phone, AS EXPECTED, and TG put in a request for a technician to come over. But oh, as it was already in the evening after the cut-off time, the technician could only come over IN TWO DAYS!!
Anyway, the PC's okay now. The problem? Needed a new PSU.
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Doner KeBABI
One thing I miss most from my student days in the UK is the food. Greasy fish and chips, drenched in vinegar; fresh hot doughnuts oozing with sweet strawberry jam; soft scones with dollops of cornish cream; rhubarb crumble drowning in custard. And last but not least, who can resist a big, fat doner kebab. I always preferred mine big, with ALL the salad and ALL the sauces. My favourite kebab shop in London was one naughtily named Lolita in Paddington. It had the doner kebab TO DIE FOR.
Yeah, we have the so-called local "kebab" chain restaurant - Kyros Kebab. Guys, that's just a TRAVESTY to the fraternity of kebabs! The few times that I gave it a try (mainly due to lack of any other choices) it was always dry, stale and utterly DISGUSTING.
Anyway, everyone knew how UNHEALTHY those kebabs were. I mean, insurance proposal forms should have an additional box to tick - "How many kebabs do you normally eat in a typical week?" - and those who've eaten a big amount should pay THROUGH THEIR TEETH to get covered! Eating more than your fair share of doner kebabs should lead you needing a doner of another type - HEART DONOR! And they always CLAIM that it's supposed to be "lamb". Errmm... WHICH PART of a lamb is it? Surely tastes really different from the normal lamb that I also happily consume.. lamb chops, lamb shank, lamb stew, lamb beriyani etc. I've got to admit that NONE of them even REMOTELY taste like the "lamb" kebab that I love.
So, like the Radiohead classic, I said NO SURPRISES when the results of a survey of kebabs in UK found that they contained "...shocking levels of salt, fat and calories..". But what did SHOCK me was that from 494 samples of kebabs, six were found to contain PORK!! And what's worse, two of the six were claimed to be HALAL!! So there were those who thought they ordered a kebab, but got a keBABI instead! I am truly dissappointed.
And I wonder how many of the other 488 samples which actually were lamb didn't turn out to be halal after all. So, to my brothers and sisters in the UK, please do make sure before you buy your next kebab. I always made sure that the shop was indeed halal, and the men working there were indeed Muslims before I felt comfortable buying.
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Kembara ANSARA 2009
First hunt of 2009. First one for quite a while, actually - more than a month since the MENSA hunt. Not a great start to the year though. Turned out to be quite disastrous, both in terms of the hunting experience and our performance.
Same old story with the team - I have never yet hunted with the same team for two different hunts! Originally we had two of my colleagues joining us. They were both from MRSM, so together with me we fulfilled the criteria to get the special ANSARA prize for highest placed ex-MRSM team. But at the 11th hour the Missus couldn't make it, so we had another colleague joining us. So there we were, The MERCERnaries, confident of at the very least finishing as the best ex-MRSM team. OH how wrong we were. In the end, we finished with 60+ points, and the 15th team out of only 34 got 79 points. Shows how far off we were. WE WERE NOT EVEN CLASSIFIED!
On hindsight, what did us in was mainly two things - carelessness and poor time management. Two of the REALLY important things that one must avoid when treasure hunting - so no excuse, really. There were a few clues where I figured out the answer, but not the SPECIFIC answer. And there are no half-points in hunting - either you get it right or wrong. And we got it wrong. One example:
I managed to figure out that "Right!" stands for "R", and "So be it" is "Amen", giving me "Ramen" which was the name of one of the restaurants in the sector, which I put down as the answer. However, I stupidly didn't follow through with the rest of the clue - "notes". On the same signboard, there was the name "Ramen Wang Sdn Bhd". Now "notes" can be to mean "wang" ("money" in Malay). Therefore, "Ramen Wang Sdn Bhd" is indeed the only correct answer.
There were at least a couple other clues where I did the same mistake of not reading through the clue properly, and was punished. Saying that, there were also a few clues where I really "tembak" the answers, as the answers I had only half-answered the clue, but somehow they turned out correct!
Time-management was the other big mistake. You can argue that poor time management and not reading the clue properly go hand-in-hand. Not deciphering the clue makes it harder to find the answer, which in turn means that you spend more time than neccessary at the sector looking for the answer. We really suffered in the latter stages of the hunt, rushing back to the finishing point, what with the massive traffic near One Utama on a Saturday afternoon. We didn't get the points for 5 of the last 7 clues, which with more time I'm sure I would've got most of those.
All in all, a frustrating hunt, but on the bright side, a HELLUVA lot of lessons learnt!
Same old story with the team - I have never yet hunted with the same team for two different hunts! Originally we had two of my colleagues joining us. They were both from MRSM, so together with me we fulfilled the criteria to get the special ANSARA prize for highest placed ex-MRSM team. But at the 11th hour the Missus couldn't make it, so we had another colleague joining us. So there we were, The MERCERnaries, confident of at the very least finishing as the best ex-MRSM team. OH how wrong we were. In the end, we finished with 60+ points, and the 15th team out of only 34 got 79 points. Shows how far off we were. WE WERE NOT EVEN CLASSIFIED!
On hindsight, what did us in was mainly two things - carelessness and poor time management. Two of the REALLY important things that one must avoid when treasure hunting - so no excuse, really. There were a few clues where I figured out the answer, but not the SPECIFIC answer. And there are no half-points in hunting - either you get it right or wrong. And we got it wrong. One example:
Right! So be it to notes.
I managed to figure out that "Right!" stands for "R", and "So be it" is "Amen", giving me "Ramen" which was the name of one of the restaurants in the sector, which I put down as the answer. However, I stupidly didn't follow through with the rest of the clue - "notes". On the same signboard, there was the name "Ramen Wang Sdn Bhd". Now "notes" can be to mean "wang" ("money" in Malay). Therefore, "Ramen Wang Sdn Bhd" is indeed the only correct answer.
There were at least a couple other clues where I did the same mistake of not reading through the clue properly, and was punished. Saying that, there were also a few clues where I really "tembak" the answers, as the answers I had only half-answered the clue, but somehow they turned out correct!
Time-management was the other big mistake. You can argue that poor time management and not reading the clue properly go hand-in-hand. Not deciphering the clue makes it harder to find the answer, which in turn means that you spend more time than neccessary at the sector looking for the answer. We really suffered in the latter stages of the hunt, rushing back to the finishing point, what with the massive traffic near One Utama on a Saturday afternoon. We didn't get the points for 5 of the last 7 clues, which with more time I'm sure I would've got most of those.
All in all, a frustrating hunt, but on the bright side, a HELLUVA lot of lessons learnt!
Monday, 15 December 2008
MENSA Treasure Hunt 2008
We took part in the MENSA Malaysia Treasure Hunt 2008 on Sunday. It was yet another iteration of Team Teh Tarik, with our fourth different teammates in as many hunts. After the hunt though, it seems that we have finally got a permanent team!
Anyway, the hunt, organised by Laurence Hie, was themed "Planet Green". The questions were almost entirely environment-based, and every single treasure item also had something to do with conserving the environment, which included bringing in at least 20kgs of old newspapers before the flag-off!
This is our first hunt that's not organised by Time Out, and I have to admit that the clues, though fair, were easier than Time Out's. Some of the clues were solveable even before we reached the relevent sector! There were surpringly a lot of general knowledge clues, but thanks to my trusted iPhone and Iskandar's 3G-enabled MacBook Pro, we managed to Wiki our way through them. However, we were stumped by a couple of clues, as the answers were really really small(!) or we just didn't do enough research on the Wiki.
This was also the very first time we managed to get ALL the treasures! As we the final hunt sector was in the Mutiara Damansara/Damansara Perdana area, we all thought that we could easily get everything at Tesco Mutiara Damansara. How wrong were we. They didn't have the right brand of garbage bags, nor did they have the EXACT type of light bulb that was specified! So ala Amazing Race we sprinted next door to Ikano to try our luck at Ace Hardware and Cold Storage. We managed to get the correct brand of garbage bags, but still no light bulb. In the end, considering that at 8 points, each treasure was worth almost 3 whole clues (3 points), we decided to drive around to look for a specialist lighting store. We managed to find one in Uptown, and were we happy when we found the exact brand and type at the very first store!
We went back through some of the final sectors to search for some answers we missed, but in vain. We decided to cut our losses and since we had less than half an hour to the deadline, we decided to go back to the checkpoint at Sri KDU School. As we had a wee bit of time left when we got there and we weren't happy with our answers from the first sector, we dropped Nini off at the checkpoint with our answer sheet and treasures and headed to the sector again. With two minutes to spare, I had a hunch for one of the tie-breaker clues and called Nini to give her the answer. The answer turned out to be the correct one and it proved vital as we were tied on points with another team!
In the end we managed to finish among the prize-winners in a respectable 18th place, which out of 40-odd teams may not seem as a great achievement at first. However, considering the who's who of the Malaysian treasure hunting scene took part in the hunt (including Cornelius Koh who flew all the way from KK just for this!), we did feel rather proud of ourselves in only our 4th ever hunt (and the very FIRST hunt for Iskandar & Kamariah!). Indeed, the MENSA Hunt is regarded by many as one of the four "Grand Slams" of local treasure hunts, so you can see just how respectable our 18th place was.
As I said at the start of this post, we think that we finally finalised the lineup for Team Teh Tarik. Everyone did a very good job, and we are raring to go for our next hunt together, with high hopes of climbing swiftly up the rankings. Watch this space!
More details of the MENSA Treasure Hunt 2008 can be found at Michael Pang's site.
Anyway, the hunt, organised by Laurence Hie, was themed "Planet Green". The questions were almost entirely environment-based, and every single treasure item also had something to do with conserving the environment, which included bringing in at least 20kgs of old newspapers before the flag-off!
This is our first hunt that's not organised by Time Out, and I have to admit that the clues, though fair, were easier than Time Out's. Some of the clues were solveable even before we reached the relevent sector! There were surpringly a lot of general knowledge clues, but thanks to my trusted iPhone and Iskandar's 3G-enabled MacBook Pro, we managed to Wiki our way through them. However, we were stumped by a couple of clues, as the answers were really really small(!) or we just didn't do enough research on the Wiki.
This was also the very first time we managed to get ALL the treasures! As we the final hunt sector was in the Mutiara Damansara/Damansara Perdana area, we all thought that we could easily get everything at Tesco Mutiara Damansara. How wrong were we. They didn't have the right brand of garbage bags, nor did they have the EXACT type of light bulb that was specified! So ala Amazing Race we sprinted next door to Ikano to try our luck at Ace Hardware and Cold Storage. We managed to get the correct brand of garbage bags, but still no light bulb. In the end, considering that at 8 points, each treasure was worth almost 3 whole clues (3 points), we decided to drive around to look for a specialist lighting store. We managed to find one in Uptown, and were we happy when we found the exact brand and type at the very first store!
We went back through some of the final sectors to search for some answers we missed, but in vain. We decided to cut our losses and since we had less than half an hour to the deadline, we decided to go back to the checkpoint at Sri KDU School. As we had a wee bit of time left when we got there and we weren't happy with our answers from the first sector, we dropped Nini off at the checkpoint with our answer sheet and treasures and headed to the sector again. With two minutes to spare, I had a hunch for one of the tie-breaker clues and called Nini to give her the answer. The answer turned out to be the correct one and it proved vital as we were tied on points with another team!
In the end we managed to finish among the prize-winners in a respectable 18th place, which out of 40-odd teams may not seem as a great achievement at first. However, considering the who's who of the Malaysian treasure hunting scene took part in the hunt (including Cornelius Koh who flew all the way from KK just for this!), we did feel rather proud of ourselves in only our 4th ever hunt (and the very FIRST hunt for Iskandar & Kamariah!). Indeed, the MENSA Hunt is regarded by many as one of the four "Grand Slams" of local treasure hunts, so you can see just how respectable our 18th place was.As I said at the start of this post, we think that we finally finalised the lineup for Team Teh Tarik. Everyone did a very good job, and we are raring to go for our next hunt together, with high hopes of climbing swiftly up the rankings. Watch this space!
More details of the MENSA Treasure Hunt 2008 can be found at Michael Pang's site.
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
Jack Bauer's back!
Yup, after taking a break for one year due to the Hollywood writers' strike, 24 Day 7 is finally upon us! The "pilot" for Day 7, a 2-hour special called 24: Redemption, was aired in the US over the weekend and is already on the torrents. This time there's no CTU as Jack's now relocated to Africa, on the run from the US government who hold him responsible for the numerous killings and tortures Jack has done to protect the US of A. But this being Jack, he can't hide from action for long, and we soon see him embroiled in a coup.To celebrate the new season of 24, The Independent has written a really good critique of the whole 24 phenomenon, pointing out the obvious plotholes (how can ANYONE go a whole day without sleep, food, drink or even a quick visit to the loo?), and the numerous torture techniques that Jack has done for the "greater good". It also has some interesting little-known facts about the TV series. Really good piece which I recommend to all Jack Bauer fans.
Saturday, 15 November 2008
iPhone 2.1
So I finally took the plunge and installed firmware 2.1 on my 1st-gen iPhone. The update's been out for a few months now, but I wanted to wait until a stable and reliable "hack" becomes available. And also an easy and foolproof installation method. I did ask around at Low Yat Plaza though for fees charged for them to do the upgrading - RM200 is the common quote. So I did some research on the net, found in QuickPWN a simple GUI based installation "program", and a really helpful step-by-step guide (with screenshots!), and went ahead. It was a smooth process alright, and apart from a small problem where the iPhone did not recognise my DiGi simcard after the process was complete - solved after doing some Googling on the problem - it was perfect!
The result? Well, I now have an iPhone 3G!! Apart from actually having 3G and GPS of course. But then, the reason why the iPhone 3G is such a hit is not the 3G capability itself (no significant increase in speeds), nor GPS (at least until applications from Garmin, TomTom and the like make it to the iPhone). The single reason why iPhone 3G is such a huge improvement over the previous version is the opening up of the iPhone platform to thousands of 3rd-party programs via the iTunes AppStore. Yeah, people have been installing programs onto jailbroken iPhones before. However, this "legal" method of installing means that big corporations with huge budgets, experience and resources are now developing iPhone-specific programs.
There are a MULTITUDE of apps available on the App Store - free and paid - but here are a few of my favourites so far:
The result? Well, I now have an iPhone 3G!! Apart from actually having 3G and GPS of course. But then, the reason why the iPhone 3G is such a hit is not the 3G capability itself (no significant increase in speeds), nor GPS (at least until applications from Garmin, TomTom and the like make it to the iPhone). The single reason why iPhone 3G is such a huge improvement over the previous version is the opening up of the iPhone platform to thousands of 3rd-party programs via the iTunes AppStore. Yeah, people have been installing programs onto jailbroken iPhones before. However, this "legal" method of installing means that big corporations with huge budgets, experience and resources are now developing iPhone-specific programs.
There are a MULTITUDE of apps available on the App Store - free and paid - but here are a few of my favourites so far:
- PocketMoney - The application I use most. I'm one of those who records EVERY single transaction I make, and PocketMoney lets me do this, separating the entries for the various bank accounts and credit cards that I have.
- EPL Live! - A must-have for all English Premiership football fans! Latest standings, fixtures, results. The killer feature - LIVE text commentary and match stats!
- Remote - Free app from Apple that lets you use the iPhone as a remote control for the iTunes library on your iMac or MacBook!
- midomi - Ever wondered what song is on the radio, but missed what the DJ said? Or have that tune in your head that you just can't remember who sang it? Well fret no more. With midomi, either put the iPhone to the radio speaker, or SING/HUM the tune into the iPhone, and within seconds midomi will give you the name and artiste of the song! Seriously, it works! Try it yourself at the website.
- Facebook - An iPhone app with virtually all the features of the FB website - including FB chat, and the ability to snap photos using the iPhone camera, tag your friends and upload it straight to FB - closest thing to a fully-dedicated FB camera! A must-have for those who don't have access to FB in the office (me!).
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
Apple Malaysia Online Store is open for business!!
Apple have FINALLY launched an online store for Malaysia! No big deal for many, as almost every major shopping mall in the Klang Valley has at least one Apple reseller. But it's significant to me, for various reasons:- We can now browse the latest Apple products and accessories online, with actual prices in RM. Prices would include for various customisations - additional RAM, HDD, etc.
- It's another "player" in the local Apple market, and there could be good deals to be enjoyed. At the very least, the brick-and-mortar resellers are now encouraged to come up with good deals of their own to counter the perception of the advantages of purchasing from the "official" store.
- This is THE most important reason - could this be the precursor for the official launch of the iPhone in Malaysia? Fingers crossed!!
Monday, 10 November 2008
Top 10!
Ladies and gentlemen, Team Teh Tarik has arrived! In only our 3rd ever hunt, and with our 3rd pair of teammates, we have managed to finish a very respectable 9th out of 50 teams.
The Top Gear Malaysia Motor Hunt 2008 was the least stressful and, dare I say, easiest so far. Well, for the latter I guess our experience in the past two hunts have helped us tremendously in knowing how to solve the clues and what to look out for in the answers.
The hunt took us via the North-South Expressway to Hulu Bernam, Tanjung Malim, Ipoh, Butterworth and to the final station just before the Penang Bridge. As there were only 50 teams and the hunting areas were well spread out, we didn't have to battle for room and space with other teams and the morning breakfast crowd. Busy Puchong on a Sunday morning this certainly is not. Most of the clues were found without stopping and searching on foot. Which is just as well, as some of the hunt sectors were along the main road. And the distance between sectors - more than an hour at one point, provided ample time to recharge our batteries and wring our brains to solve the treasure clues.
I did my homework on the hunt sponsors the night before, and boy was I glad I did! Quite a few of the clues (including the treasures) assumed knowledge of the sponsors - nothing too detailed, basically just based on stuff in the goody bags. In the end, we got 30 out of 35 answers right, but only got 1 treasure right. Must work harder on the treasure clues!
During the prize-giving ceremony, each team's points total was not mentioned, so we really didn't know what to expect. As other teams' numbers were called out as the finishing positions got higher and higher, we honestly didn't know what to expect - on one hand it is a good sign that we have a better chance of finishing higher, but on the other hand, maybe we did so bad that we weren't even classified! 20, 19, 18... the positions got higher and higher, and still no mention of our team. 13, 12, 11... then we got to the magic number of 10th position, STILL our team wasn't called out. And then for position number 9, FINALLY we were called to the stage! 9th! And all we wanted at the start of the day was to finish in the top 20! Only bummer though was that our reward were these steam facial sauna thingamajigs. Yeah, I hear you laughing. And to think that teams BELOW us won cufflinks and Ray-Bans!
All in all, a great weekend in Penang. And we even brought back RM200 worth of DVDs back as souvenirs! Our next proposed hunt would be the MENSA Hunt on 14th December - apparently one of the Grand Slams of Malaysian treasure hunting. Now, getting Top 10 in that hunt would be REALLY special.
The Top Gear Malaysia Motor Hunt 2008 was the least stressful and, dare I say, easiest so far. Well, for the latter I guess our experience in the past two hunts have helped us tremendously in knowing how to solve the clues and what to look out for in the answers.
The hunt took us via the North-South Expressway to Hulu Bernam, Tanjung Malim, Ipoh, Butterworth and to the final station just before the Penang Bridge. As there were only 50 teams and the hunting areas were well spread out, we didn't have to battle for room and space with other teams and the morning breakfast crowd. Busy Puchong on a Sunday morning this certainly is not. Most of the clues were found without stopping and searching on foot. Which is just as well, as some of the hunt sectors were along the main road. And the distance between sectors - more than an hour at one point, provided ample time to recharge our batteries and wring our brains to solve the treasure clues.
I did my homework on the hunt sponsors the night before, and boy was I glad I did! Quite a few of the clues (including the treasures) assumed knowledge of the sponsors - nothing too detailed, basically just based on stuff in the goody bags. In the end, we got 30 out of 35 answers right, but only got 1 treasure right. Must work harder on the treasure clues!During the prize-giving ceremony, each team's points total was not mentioned, so we really didn't know what to expect. As other teams' numbers were called out as the finishing positions got higher and higher, we honestly didn't know what to expect - on one hand it is a good sign that we have a better chance of finishing higher, but on the other hand, maybe we did so bad that we weren't even classified! 20, 19, 18... the positions got higher and higher, and still no mention of our team. 13, 12, 11... then we got to the magic number of 10th position, STILL our team wasn't called out. And then for position number 9, FINALLY we were called to the stage! 9th! And all we wanted at the start of the day was to finish in the top 20! Only bummer though was that our reward were these steam facial sauna thingamajigs. Yeah, I hear you laughing. And to think that teams BELOW us won cufflinks and Ray-Bans!
All in all, a great weekend in Penang. And we even brought back RM200 worth of DVDs back as souvenirs! Our next proposed hunt would be the MENSA Hunt on 14th December - apparently one of the Grand Slams of Malaysian treasure hunting. Now, getting Top 10 in that hunt would be REALLY special.
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Treasure Hunting for Dummies
After joining my first two treasure hunts, I've learnt a lot of tips on getting the answers and treasures right from my experience. I'll write them down as a Treasure Hunt 101 for other newbies and potential hunters.
1) Look out for the indicator word
Most of the clues you need to solve are cryptic clues, where a lot of time and skill is required to decipher the clues before you even start looking for the answers! The first step to solving these cryptic clues is to look out for the indicator. The main ones are:
2) Know the sponsors
Well the sponsors did not pour in so much of their money for nothing - they do want some publicity in exchange. I have found that for some of the clues, really knowing about your sponsors (or at least being aware of them!) would really help. The name of the sponsor itself could be the answer, or you may need to know the business or motto of the sponsor. Even the treasures themselves could be one of the sponsor's products (it may even have been included in the goody-bag all along!).
3) Know your Roman numerals
This is really important. There would be clues which may contain the words "hundred" or "five" or even "a number" where you're actually needed to substitute these words with the corresponding Roman numerals. So do look out for any reference to numbers, especially if they're specific single digit Roman numerals such as below:
I - One
V - Five
X - Ten
L - Fifty
C - One Hundred
D - Five Hundred
M - One Thousand
4) Every. Word. Counts.
Yup, do not dismiss or overlook ANY word. And this goes for both the answer as well as the clue. If you think you get an answer, try see if it can somehow fit in with the clue. If only part of the clue describes the answer, then chances are the answer is wrong. If only part of the answer fits in with the clue, then chances are that answer is wrong too.
5) Mind your language
Having a decent command of the English Language is imperative! You no speaking England, you no win Treasure Hunt.
So that's all the beginner tips I can think of for now. I'll add more in the future as I gain more experience in this new hobby/sport of mine.
1) Look out for the indicator word
Most of the clues you need to solve are cryptic clues, where a lot of time and skill is required to decipher the clues before you even start looking for the answers! The first step to solving these cryptic clues is to look out for the indicator. The main ones are:
- anagram indicators (Change, mix, sort, could be, perhaps, awkwardly, perm, chaos etc)
- backwards indicators (returns, recall, etc)
- rhyme indicators (sounds like, I hear, etc)
- initial indicators (Firstly, initially, etc)
2) Know the sponsors
Well the sponsors did not pour in so much of their money for nothing - they do want some publicity in exchange. I have found that for some of the clues, really knowing about your sponsors (or at least being aware of them!) would really help. The name of the sponsor itself could be the answer, or you may need to know the business or motto of the sponsor. Even the treasures themselves could be one of the sponsor's products (it may even have been included in the goody-bag all along!).
3) Know your Roman numerals
This is really important. There would be clues which may contain the words "hundred" or "five" or even "a number" where you're actually needed to substitute these words with the corresponding Roman numerals. So do look out for any reference to numbers, especially if they're specific single digit Roman numerals such as below:
I - One
V - Five
X - Ten
L - Fifty
C - One Hundred
D - Five Hundred
M - One Thousand
4) Every. Word. Counts.
Yup, do not dismiss or overlook ANY word. And this goes for both the answer as well as the clue. If you think you get an answer, try see if it can somehow fit in with the clue. If only part of the clue describes the answer, then chances are the answer is wrong. If only part of the answer fits in with the clue, then chances are that answer is wrong too.
5) Mind your language
Having a decent command of the English Language is imperative! You no speaking England, you no win Treasure Hunt.
So that's all the beginner tips I can think of for now. I'll add more in the future as I gain more experience in this new hobby/sport of mine.
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Top half!
Yup, after a TIRING day spent hunting, we managed to finish in 100th place out of 240 teams. Top half, which is a marked improvement over our bottom half finish in the Lexis Nexis hunt, and especially as it was only our SECOND EVER hunt! But to be fair, we did get 12 questions out of 35 wrong, and the fact that most of the other teams were newbies did contribute to our position. Encouraging achievement, anyway, and keeps our hopes up for the Top Gear Motor Hunt this coming weekend - only 50 or so teams, so we have an excellent chance of finishing in the top 10!
Anyway, Philips were the prize sponsors and the winners won a 37" LCD TV - for EACH team member! Our prize for coming in 100th? A Philips steam iron each. Well, it is something, and is waaaay much better than going back empty handed! Onwards to Penang and the Top Gear Hunt!
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