Atma Xplorer

I always thought official Sony peripherals for the PSP would be second rate to third party manufacturer’s like Blackhorns. That’ is until I saw the Official Sony PSP cradle.

» Read the rest of the entry..

Let’s face it, life is not the pretty picture that main stream media and our respective governments wants us to see. It’s a daily struggle against deadlines, traffic, peer pressure, heat and whatever hubbub that ruins everyone’s day but have to deal with every single time.

If you can somehow balance things up then you’re fine, for the moment, but mishaps happen and it’s common that things don’t turn out for the best. You could:

• Get dumped.
• Have your boyfriend/girlfriend broke up with you.
• Get fired.
• Find that your favorite TV show got canceled.
• Miss the last showing date of your most awaited movie.
• Have your house burned down.

Kinda depressing isn’t it?

» Read the rest of the entry..

If you’re looking for a place to store files to share online, the usual suspects are Megaupload, Rapidshare, Sendspace and Yousendit. While useful, most of these services are a burden to the uploader and to the downloader. If you wanted a quick and easy way to share files without these services, the easiest way was to upload it to an FTP server but not everyone has access to it. So what are you to do?

Instead of paying up to bypass the quirks of the mentioned file sharing service, why not go free?

ADrive offers 50GB upfront with a 2GB file upload limit. Sounds interesting? It is especially when you notice the big Free sign on the site. Yes using ADrive is absolutely free.

The main uploader for ADrive is a Java applet so if you don’t have JRE installed, you’ll be prompted to install it. Once installed, you can just drag and drop files into the applet and it’ll run the upload all by itself. Of course if you don’t want Java installed or can’t use it, you can use the manual uploader but that takes the fun out of it.

ADrive allows all file types on their servers but you can’t stream from them (no formal announcement if they will be enabled but from their FAQ, I’d say we’ll see it in a future update). If you need to edit something that’s already uploaded like a Word file, don’t worry. You don’t need to re-upload it since ADrive has a feature to do that. Works with Word and Excel files only though.

The good news about ADrive is that files are kept on their servers until you delete them (or I’m guessing they receive a C&D for questionable materials).

All you need is do to avail of ADrive’s service is to sign-up for the service and you’re good to go.

If you’re looking for something simpler though, I suggest FileDropper. The interface is a no-nonsense one but there’s a 5GB limit.

Hindered by FileDropper’s $.99 plan? Don’t worry. FileDropper is offering Free accounts for bloggers and social network site members like Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, etc. The offer expires on May 15. Not sure if it means our free accounts will do to but I’m guessing not.

Procrastination will always been a difficult obstacle to overcome whether you’re a student, a working adult, a parent, or just a plain bum.

Procrastination is next to human nature to some, which typically manifests as behavior that deferments any action, important or mundane to a later time. Filipinos have a special name to this attitude, the Manana Habit.

Procrastination hurts

To the procrastinator, he or she may think that by putting things off until he’s in the “mood” to do them is a good thing because he’ll be able to have the motivation to work. In reality however, he or she is not only losing time to do his work but loosing the opportunity to do work.

Confusing? Not really.

Just think about it. While waiting for the opportunity to get motivated to come, there’s always the chance that it may not come at all which puts the procastinator in the position of cramming to the last second till the deadline. I’ll conceed that many people do work well under pressure but sometimes taking the risk of putting things off can be too great. You either end up with a sloppy, last-minute work or end up not finishing at all.

Why do we do it?

One of the key reasons that people procrastinate is that they fall into the trap of making emotional decisions instead of logical decisions. It’s almost always “I can do this later so for now I’ll” or “I’m too bored to do this now, I’ll do it later.”

The decision to do task is based on what will make the procrastinator feel good for the moment. It’s just like nibbling down a bag of chips because, even though you know it is unhealthy, you know it will taste good and give you a moment’s satisfaction.

A prudent person will choose a logical decision, choosing to do “what needs to be done” with little or no regard whatsoever for what makes him or her happy. But only a few people can pull this off. The temptation to procastinate is usually too hard to overcome. I know. I’ve been there.

What to do?

Letting our emotions rule our life is always a double edged sword. While it will give us some sense of having our personal touch on everything we do, it also risks the chance of getting hurt and avoidance, in this case procrastination.

Procrastination is childish, irresponsible, and stupid.

Here are 4 tips on how to stop procrastinating:

Act Immediately

Note that you shouldn’t act IMPULSIVELY. Just act the moment you get things figured out, right before anything else bothers you. Most people stop midway or don’t even begin because they are too occupied thinking about irrelevant and distracting thoughts.Stop just talking about the problem, stop thinking about the problem in your head, just start doing it.

Save the excuses

Excuses are a defense mechanism for falling short. The excuses you tell and come up with the more that it’ll stick and drag you down. You are what you think you are. If think that something is too difficult - then your body will think you’re pushing yourself.

Think you are

Overconfidence is a flaw but doing it right can be helpful. Believing in yourself and what you can do will make a lot of things so much easier.If you approached your work as if everything was possible and removed any doubts that you may have, you would achieve a lot more.Just don’t over do it. There’s a fine line between self-confidence and over-confidence..

Focus on being productive

What uses up most of you time? Emails? Chats? Blogposts (ouch!)? Are you doing what you want to do first, second, and third based on what feels good or what you are supposed to be doing?Stop procrastinating by doing what’s easy and non-productive and instead focus on the important stuff first. You can also do your leisure later.

Umm.. You’ll note that I’ve added an Avatar (Haruhi of Ouran) to the post. It won’t be a regular thing except for this category of posts (since someone might flag me as a Dosh Dosh wannabe) since it’s a sort of habit on my personal blogs.

Web services have gone quite a long way from just being desktop-bound substitutes to full fledged, independent applications that we can’t do without. While they may not look as aesthetic or integrate well with our operating system (because most of the time, you’re still stuck with your browser), they keep us free from give freedom that would have otherwise tied us to a single computer forever. To the say the list, web services is both a convenience and a necessity.

Convenience because you usually just need to have a compatible browser installed and an internet connection and necessity because a lot of web services now are simply those that we can’t live without.

Here’s my list of top web services that I’d drop dead if I couldn’t use them.

Delicious

Making bookmarks available anywhere you go makes delicious at the top of my list. You don’t only get to keep those numerous important links handy, you get also to share them with friends. Now how cool is that.

Digg

Digg is both famous and infamous for me for a number of reasons but overall, having digg as a source for some of my current events kept it in the top 5. Yes most digged stories are biased towards one idea but theres the usually an interesting read to compensate for that. If I wanted mature discussions on the Topic though then it’s Shoutwire for me.

Multiply

I honestly don’t have a thing for social networking sites like Friendster and Facebook so a private community like Multiply is the thing for me. It’s a great place to upload unlimited hours of video and unlimited number of photos and keep them private. If you choose though, you can let everyone access your stuff.

Flickr

While Multiply holds my pictures, Flickr still holds some of it’s share. I loved the service particularly because it integrates well with several Web-based apps and services I use. Great place for conversation too.

Gmail

At first, Gmail’s approach at tagging over folders was a real challenge to get used to but now it’s like second nature. It’s flexible and it’s extendable with interesting mods like Gmail Drive. Plus who doesn’t like a 6 GB mailbox? Unless you’re a fan Yahoo Mail’s Unlimited offer that is.

Netvibes

Netvibes is not only my start up page but also my main RSS reader. Although it does so much more than just hold RSS like iGoogle and My Yahoo, I use it to keep things and places that I like to keep updated on organized. Now that Netvibes has launched Ginger, it’s become much more harder to part with.

Skype

VoIP is a must for families with members abroad which is why Skype is stuck on this list. Skype to Skype calls are more common to us (my family) than cellphone to cellphone which is why having VoIP on my PSP is such a great treat. Too bad I still have to find a matching/compatible headset is still a pain though..

Meebo

Meebo is one of the most indispensable services in my bookmarks because it allows you to connect to several IM formats without installing any software. There’s even support for file transfer.

YouTube

YouTube is last on my list because aside from being a good time waster, it’s flooded with almost the same videos with very unsearchable tags. I find it indispensable for tutorials though it’s hard to find the right video sometimes.

Zamzar

Converting .docx to .doc is a nightmare to some especially in emergencies. Luckily, Zamzar is there to give you a lifeline. I’ve used it quite a lot of times till I learn to Tame my Office 2007.

That’s it for my list. What’s on your’s?

Stuck with Crisis Core? Can’t get the materia/items you want? Enemies are too powerful? Look no further. This guide will help you to create materia for buffs like +999% HP, +100 Stats, get tips for farming and so much more.

Note that credits for whatever has been posted here are due to their respective contributors.

Note: I seemed to have been bumped off the frontpage of Google by the more popular forums on the keywords Crisis Core Materia Fusion Guide, Materia Fusion Guide and Crisis Core Fusion. I’m editing the post so I can reach 1st page again *fingers crossed*.

Update: Wow, this is the 3rd time I’ve been kicked of the 2nd spot for the keywords, Crisis Core Materia Fusion Guide, Materia Fusion Guide and Crisis Core Fusion.  Hoping the minor revision will help me get back on track (or maybe it means I need to update much more often to get the 1st spot for Crisis Core Materia Fusion Guide on Google).

If you found this guide useful or merely want to share it, just copy and paste the following codes when needed.

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Now without further adieu:

The Materia Fusion Guide

The main requirement is that your finish mission 7-2-1 for the Item fusion tome (item fusion).

Note:

Many people don’t understand that 7-2-1, here’s an example:

Mission-> 7 (Seeking Priceless Items)->2 (Precious Things->1 (Seek and Destroy)..

Note: this will be available at Chapter 5 (when you meet Aeris/Aerith).

Table of Contents

1. HP modifier
2. Costly Punch Materia
3. SP Gathering
4. Stat Modifier & Tricks
5. Accessories Location
6. Other Useful Accessories
   
7. Shop Location (Obtained in Mission)
8. Mission Tips
9. Materia Fusion Guide (NEW)
   

HP modifier

To those starting at the game, that have small money, you can try this…

Requirements:
Potions and Hp Ups

Potion=buy from shop
Hp Up+= Steal or Mug from Vajradhara Indra in mission 4-4-1 (Easy Mission) (if you’re having hard time dealing with this monster, try the second option)

Steal Materia Location
Mission 7-4-1 (Treasure Chest)
Mission 8-3-6 (Treasure Chest)

Note: The mission difficulty depends on Zack’s Level..

Note: The picture below is a monster that can be fight at normal encounter (not a mission boss), so you can fight it all over again without completing the mission (hassle free)

Option 2:
Mission 4-2-5 (Very Easy Mission) (thanks to yuimishima for the tip)…

If you collected the needed requirements, proceed to materia fusion

First we combine the 2 Hp Up+ that we stole and Potion(80) like this…

Ok, combine again a 2 Hp Up+ and Potion(80), so the result will be 2 Hp Up+ with +70% each..

Then we will combine those 2 like this

After that, create again a HP up+ with 70%, then do this

Then repeat the process again, to increase the percent of the Hp Materia..

Now for those who like to link them to magic like curaga, combine Hp UP materia + curaga materia

Example Hp+999% + Curaga= Curaga+999%

Costly Punch Materia

Now if you have HP+999%, then we proceed to the 99999 damage modifier

Requirements:
Adaman Bangle(Mission chest or reward) or Genji Armor(100% DMW) or Divine Slayer (Defeating Minerva)= Accessories that breaks HP limit
Brutal(Mission Chest or Reward, Genji Glove(Mission Chest) and Divine Slayer= Accessories that break damage Limit
Costly Punch

How to get costly punch:

Combine any punch materia + any dmw materia (like Megaflare dmw materia or Octaslash materia)..

Magical Punch Materia
Mission 1-5-4 (Treasure Chest)
Mission 4-5-6 (Reward)
Mission 5-4-2 (Reward)
Mission 6-5-5 (Treasure Chest)
Mission 7-5-5 (Treasure Chest)
Mission 9-3-4 (Reward)

Iron Fist Materia
Mission 3-5-2 (Treasure Chest)
Mission 5-3-3 (Reward)
Mission 7-5-1 (Treasure Chest)
Mission 9-2-5 (Reward)

Goblin Punch Materia
Mission 4-5-4 (Reward)

@DMW Materia

Bone Village Commerce (Shop)

Mission 7-5-3(Treasure Chest)

When finish, this will be the result..

Costly punch damage is based on your maximum hp and it ignores enemy vit, but it causes 0 damage when:

Example is the picture above

Zack has 55,836(max HP) but the HP break is 93,200 that causes costly punch damage to 0

You must have the exact HP or lower to dish out the 99999 damage…

When your HP breaks (because of that dmw reel), unequip your HP modifier then equip it again, then heal hehe…

SP Gathering

Now that you have costly punch..

We need to gather a huge amount of SP to do Materia Fusion (if you want +999% HP modifier)

This is the monster that give huge amount of SP, it is located in mission 8-6-1, 2-3-3, 6-4-1, its called RE Movers

If you want money gathering while getting SP, equip this

then this is what you get…

a 4000 SP & a Gold Armlet

So while you gathering SP, you also have Gold Armlet that you can sell for 3000G

A Pandora’s Battery (Pandora Battery or just Pandora) is a sort of lifeline for PSP users with the who have Custom Firmware installed on their units. It’s basically a special service battery that, along with a magic memorystick, can downgrade and unbrick any psp. Instead having to throw your bricked units away, you can now bring your dead (bricked) PSP back to life and/or downgrade any firmware psp - safely.

The homebrew community owes its roots to the Noobz! team for giving us such an amazing breakthrough.

While it’s an absolute must to have a Pandora Battery, if you’re a novice to the PSP world though, making one is a daunting task which requires you to have an original Sony PSP battery and a spare memory stick. Luckily, an innovative Filipino has provided a way of doing away with both requirements.

How? Read his Easy-to-follow guide for installation

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Getting Started

1. Introduction
2. Tested OK Using the Following Systems
3. Things You Need
4. Optional Procedure Before Starting

II. Main Guide

1. Preparation
2. Jigkick Battery & Magic Memory Stick
3. Install Pandora Menu Launcher
4. Test

III. Troubleshooting Guides

1. To use PSP normally
2. To use Pandora to unbrick or downgrade a PSP
3. To revert your battery and memory stick to a normal one

IV. Additional Information

1. Notes on Pandora
2. Credits

I. GETTING STARTED

1a. Introduction

This installs a multi-boot IPL to create a MagicStick w/o reformatting (mspformat) and also w/o using a separate battery & memstick for your Pandora. The multi-boot IPL included in this package already has the sleep-mode fix.

Original readme files of the included tools/files are also included inside the “Other Files” folder.

If anything goes wrong with your PSP, the original owners of the files (including this repacked version), are not responsible.

Proceed at your own risk!

1b. Tested OK Using the Following Systems

psp-1000, orig 1800mA batt, orig 256mb MS, 3.52 m33-4, 3.52 kernel
psp-1000, orig 1800mA batt, class-A 4gb MS, 3.52 m33-4, 3.52 kernel
psp-1000, orig 1800mA batt, orig 8gb MS, 3.52 m33-4, 3.52 kernel

Kindly inform me if you tested this w/ other setups and working well.

1c. Things You Need

1. Your homebrew-enabled PSP (OFW 1.5, any CFW)
2. Your PSP battery
3. Your memstick (must be a Pro Duo, 256mb or higher)
4. Official Sony 1.50 firmware (not included in the package, get it yourself)
5. Official Sony 3.80 firmware (not included in the package, get it yourself)

1d. Optional Procedure Before Starting

You may also format your memstick if you really want using the “Format Memory Stick” option on your PSP.

Or you may still use the mspformat tool (used by the original Pandora installer) but you still have to recreate the folders needed (PSP, PSP/GAME, PSP/GAME150).

NOTE: mspformat is also included inside the “Other Files” folder

II. MAIN GUIDE

2a. Step 1: Preparation

1. Open Package Folder 1
2. Make sure you don’t have any external storage devices connected
3. Run start.bat
4. Connect your memstick using a card reader or via PSP USB mode
5. Press Y to install IPL
6. Open Package Folder 2
7. Copy the “ipl” folder to the root of your memstick. ms0:/ipl
8. Open Package Folder 3
9. Browse to the GAME folder in your memstick
   • PSP/GAME if you use FW1.5
   • PSP/GAME150 if you use CFW
10. Copy all 4 folders (pandora_battery, pandora_battery, pbfirm_install, pbfirm_install%) to the GAME folder
    • PSP/GAME if you use FW1.5
    • PSP/GAME150 if you use CFW
11. Copy the official Sony 1.5 firmware update to the root of your memstick. ms0:/EBOOT.PBP
12. Rename EBOOT.PBP to UPDATE.PBP
13. Copy the official Sony 3.80 firmware update to the root of your memstick. ms0:/EBOOT.PBP
14. Rename EBOOT.PBP to 380.PBP
15. Disconnect the memorystick from your PC (disconnect USB or remove card from card reader)
    • If you use a card reader, insert your memstick on your PSP

2b. Step 2: Jigkick Battery & Magic Memory Stick

1. Connect PSP power cable and make sure the battery is also inserted
2. Run “Pandora’s Battery Firm. Installer” (PSP Game Menu -> Memory Stick)
3. Press X to install the firmware to the memstick
4. Wait until it returns to the XMB
5. Run “Pandora’s Battery Creator” (PSP Game Menu -> Memory Stick)
6. Press triangle to backup your battery’s EEPROM to ms0:/eeprom.bin (just in case you want to revert your battery to a normal one)
7. Wait until it returns to the XMB
8. Connect your memstick to your PC again
9. Rename the msipl.bin file located in the root of your memstick to 150ex.bin
10. Move 150ex.bin to the ipl folder in your memstick. ms0:/ipl/150ex.bin
11. Backup the eeprom.bin file located in the root of your memstick to your PC
12. Disconnect the memstick from your PC
13. Run “Pandora’s Battery Creator” (PSP Game Menu -> Memory Stick)
14. Press X to convert the battery to Service Mode (a.k.a. Pandora’s battery)
    • After creating the battery, your battery should now be able to auto-boot your PSP when inserted
15. Wait until it returns to the XMB

2c. Step 3: Install Pandora Menu Launcher

1. Open Package Folder 4
2. Make a copy of the ms0:/kd folder to your computer
3. Rename ms0:/kd to ms0:/kdpandora
4. Copy the kd folder from the package to the root of the memstick. ms0:/kd

2d. Test

1. Turn off your PSP (hard-reset) and disconnect the power supply and USB cable
2. Hold the L-Trigger button then turn on your PSP
3. Release the button if you see a green screen or the menu

III. TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDES

3a. To use PSP normally

Turn off your PSP (hard-reset) then turn it on again w/o holding the L-trigger.
You can still use the R-trigger for the Recovery Menu (for CFW)

3b. To use Pandora to unbrick or downgrade a PSP

1. Remove the memstick and battery of the PSP
2. Insert the MagicStick
3. Hold the L-Trigger button
4. Insert the battery
5. Release the button if you see the pandora menu
6. Follow the instructions, depending on what you need from this point

3c. To revert your battery and memory stick to a normal one

1. Connect your memstick to your PC
2. Open Package Folder 3
3. Browse to the GAME folder in your memstick
   • PSP/GAME if you use FW1.5
   • PSP/GAME150 if you use CFW (OE, M33)
4. Copy the 2 folders (pandora_battery, pandora_battery%) to the GAME folder
   • PSP/GAME if you use FW1.5
   • PSP/GAME150 if you use CFW (OE, M33)
5. Copy your backup of eeprom.bin to the root of your memstick. ms0:/eeprom.bin
6. Disconnect the memstick from your PC
7. Run “Pandora’s Battery Creator” (PSP Game Menu -> Memory Stick)
8. Press square to convert Pandora’s battery to a normal one
9. Wait until it returns to the XMB
10. Run “Pandora’s Battery Creator” (PSP Game Menu -> Memory Stick)
11. Press L-Trigger + R-Trigger to restore EEPROM data (don’t worry about the error message)
12. Wait until it returns to the XMB
13. Format your memory stick using the “Format Memory Stick” option on your PSP.

IV. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

4a. Notes on Pandora

Make sure you dump the NAND Flash of your PSP before doing a downgrade or unbricking.
Do not restore a NAND dump of other people’s PSP.
Do not remove the UPDATE.PBP from your memstick.

4b. Credits

Pandora: Dark_Alex & Mathieulh
Pandora Menu Launcher: TheJoker
mspformat: Team C+D
multi-boot IPL: Booster

Author’s Home page

Tutorial Video (PandoraRepacked 0.2): 1 | 2

After you’ve created your Pandora battery, you’d definitely want to upgrade your custom firmware and this guide to upgrading will definitely help. After that, you might be interested in some PSP game downloads