Being hailed all over the world as the most addictive game on facebook, Packrat’s influences were horribly damaging. I got hooked back onto it 9 days before my exams all because I discovered that I could actually combine lower level cards to create rare high level items. This was a crucial key to the game. Avoid compounding the cards and it will be impossible to finish any set unless you are an extremely lucky person. If you are one of the blessed souls, I suggest you stop playing and start buying 4D instead.

Previously, I stupidly vaulted multiple low level stuff or random rares that I salvaged from the rats; Then lost interest since it was so frustrating to finish any one set until that fateful discovery which almost ruined my examinations. Packrat is a greed based collection game where the objective is to steal and vault pretty cards and complete sets. A simple enough concept, yet so fatally addictive.

There are a few ways to play the game. The first is FFA (Free For All) which was how the game was originally designed to be played. Competitive style forces the players to lock their items and break locks of their fellow packrats in order to steal and complete their sets. I, for one, absolutely hate this method of playing.

The second most popular is Co-op (Cooperative) where minor communities are formed and help is given freely within the group to aid “members” in completing their sets. Some FFA players join under the cover of being Co-op and unscrupulously rob their friends blind. I’ve seen so many complaints on the forums. So far the solution is to create blacklists and swap them among the communities to deter such “crimes”.

The third style is what I’m going for - Hermit. I basically have very few friends. Anyone who does a FFA with me without warning is automatically being defriended. No offense to real life contacts I’ve deleted but there’s always friendster if you still want to stay connected.

Upon completion of any set, the player will receive a “Feat of Wonder” card. My very first set I completed was Ancient Realms which, not surprisingly, is my favourite.

The Feats of Wonder text were interesting to read. So far, Sugar Rush is the funniest:

Flapjickety! No more low-fat, low-cal, sugar-free desserts for you! Congrats on finishing the Sugar Rush collection. Grab a big spoon and a bowl of your favourite ice cream, sit back, and admire your shiny new “I’m an Anti-Dentite” card.

For newbies, here’s some useful resources for the game:

Card Recipes and Guides
Trading Post - Specifically for Retired Sets
General Trading Post - Found within the app itself

Enjoy!

For self-reference. Probably won’t be using this anytime soon yet… Credits for organizing the items and steps in the text below goes to Vincent. Thanks!

Items Used

1. M.A.C Paint Pot Painterly
2. M.A.C Studio Finish Concealer or Eve Pearl Salmon Concealer™ & Treatment with CosmeNutrient
3. 242 Brush
4. 194 Concealer Brush
5. Transclucent Powder
6. M.A.C 150 Powder Brush

Steps

1. Apply paint pot with 242 brush on your undereye dark circle making sure that they are covered evenly
2. Use your ring finger to spread it out in a rolling motion.
3. Apply concealer with concealer brush 194 on your undereye dark circle.
4. Use your ring finger to spread it out in a rolling motion.
5. Use the transclucent powder with 194 Concealer Brush where you applied the concealer on.
6. Dust off the excess powder using the powder brush.

Tip:

- Obtain a small sample jar and scoop a portion of ‘M.A.C Paint Pot Painterly’ into the jar to prevent the main jar from drying up.

A beginner’s reference for colouring drawings.

1. Preparing the canvas
   • Open the file in Photoshop and make sure that the Image is in RGB mode
     Else, activate the mode by navigating to: Image >Mode> RGB Color. A tick beside it indicates that the image is already in RGB mode.
   • Create 7 layers as name them as follows:
     • Base Skin
     • Skin 1
     • Skin 2
     • Skin 3
     • Hair
     • Eyes
     • Clothes
     Tip: I prefer to group the 4 skin layers together just to be neater.
2. Colour the skin.
   • Select the "Base Skin" layer.
   • Fill the layer with your preferred skin colour using Paint Bucket Tool.
     Tip: I like using R:216 G:184 B:133
   • Switch the layer mode from Normal to Multiply.
     In Photoshop 10.0, this is a drop down list on the left of "Opacity" in the Layers window.
     If you did it right, you should see this.
   • Erase all the areas that aren’t suppose to have the colour of the skin
     Tip: Use Extract if the image is complicated. Quick video tutorial on how to use extract here.
     If you did it right, you should see this.
   • Select "Skin 1" layer.
   • Pick a skin shade slightly darker than the first.
   • Activate the brush tool and choose an appropriate brush size.
   • Under Brushes window, check "Shape Dynamics" and "Wet Edges".
   • Switch the layer mode from Normal to Darker.
   • Use the brush to shade areas where shadows will be cast onto the skin.
   • Repeat what is done on Skin 1 to the other two skin layers with the exception of changing the layer mode to Multiply instead of Darker. This is to give the shadows some depth.
     If you did it right, you should see this.
     Tip: If you think the shading got a bit too dark, you can adjust it by navigating to Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast.
   • Merge All skin 1, skin 2 and skin 3 layers together.
   • Don’t panic when the image gets whacked out. Simply change the layer mode to Multiply and stop panicking.
   • Optional Skin Segment: Making the skin glow.
     • Select Base Skin layer.
     • Change the brush mode to Linear Dodge with Opacity 25% Flow 23%.
       Editor’s Comment: I am not sure what flow does and it seems to make it worse so I did away with it. Also the opacity is too high I feel, so I adjusted it to 20% instead. Feel free to make own adjustments.
     • Pick the same skin colour as the one on Base Skin layer.
     • Brush repeatedly on places where you think light will hit.
       If you did it right, it should look like this.
       
3. Colour the eyes.
   Editor’s note: I don’t understand her tutorial on the eyes so if anyone managed to do it, let me know thanks.
   • Select the "Eye" layer.
   • Pick an appriopriate eye colour and start colouring the eyes without changing the opacity, flow or linear dodge.
   • Brush repeatedly until the eyes can hardly be seen.
   • Switch the layer mode from Normal to Color.
4. Colour the hair.
   • Select the "Hair" layer.
   • Select an appropriate hair colour.
   • Change the brush’s opacity and flow back to 100%.
   • Change the brush mode back to Normal.
   • Switch the layer from Normal to Multiply.
   • Colour the hair.
   • Reuse the techniques used in Skin layer previously for hair shadows - Create new layer, choose darker colour, shade, etc…
     If you did it right, it should look like this.
5. Colour the clothes.
   • Reuse all above techniques as well - Create multiple layers, shade them, make them glow, etc…

The original guide was done by Mangaka from a forum. I used it as a beginner’s guide to colour all my drawings and found it extremely useful. This is an edited version for my self-reference. Those looking for the original guide can go here.

About two weeks back, I was playing with nail polish as per usual. Most of the time I paint all 10 nails or not paint at all but this time, I painted only on my left hand and left them there for about 5 days. The root of the nail grew out fast so in the end I scrapped the paint off since it’s thick enough to peel off anyway.

Then the horror struck as I noticed that the left nails were slightly yellowish compared to the ones on the right hand. My nails are usually very white compared to other people but now it’s has a slight yellow tinged. Had I not put the polish on one hand alone, I would not have realized the discolouration.

I was hoping they would heal over time but my friend told me her toe nails had discolouration and they haven’t recovered for many years since. Looking like a smoker was not appealing to me at all and so I am now seeking ways to turn them back. Here’s a self compiled lists of whys and how to rid yellow nails.

Some of the darker coloured polishes can stain nails due to a chemical reaction between the colorant and the nail plate. Colour reaction is hard to predict because it doesn’t happen for everybody for every dark color. It can also take a few days to a few weeks to occur. It’s also possible that formaldehyde (one of the ingredients in many nail polishes) is causing the problem. This chemical can react with the keratin protein in your nails and make it brittle and yellow.

Mild bleaching
I don’t like the idea of bleaching. But I don’t like yellow nails even more.

• Whitening toothpaste
  1. Use whitening or regular toothpaste and scrub the nails with a spare toothbrush. Said not only to lighten the nails but also bring a shine.
• Lemon Juice
  1. Slice open a fresh lemon.
  2. Squeeze out the juice into a shallow bowl.
  3. Soak the nails for several minutes - about 15mins once a week.
  4. Repeat as often as necessary.
  5. After treatment, wash the nails and apply a suitable lotion to recover lost moisture.
• Denture Tablets
  1. Instead of soaking dentures, use them to soak your nails
• Bleaching Agent Recipe
  1. Combine three tablespoons of baking soda and one tablespoon of 3% hydrogen peroxide to make a paste. OR…
  2. Combine one tablespoon lemon juice and one tablespoon baking powder.
  3. Soak the nails for several minutes - about 15mins once a week.
  4. Repeat as often as necessary.
  5. After treatment, wash the nails and apply a suitable lotion to recover lost moisture.

Mechanical Action
I don’t know how to do this one. I’ve never seen it being done first hand.

• Light Buffing (Additionally, buffing encourages nail growth by increasing circulation.)
  1. Buy quality buffing materials.
  2. Buff only in one direction.
  3. Excessive buffing or incorrect buffing may cause nail breakage.

The third and natural way is to just leave the stained portions to grow out over a period of 4 to 6 months. Almost every site I checked wrote that the problem is only superficial. In that case, why is my friend’s toe nails still yellowish? Oh well… I should ask her again.

I noticed that blogsome doesn’t give a lot of space for images. I’ll probably run out of space in the long run at the rate I’m using. As inconvenient it may be to link from external sources, there was no other choice. Thus, one full day of my youth was spent searching out free hosting services, comparing the plans and restrictions imposed.

My first priority in choosing one is to make sure it’s free so if you’re willing to pay, there are much better ones out there probably. Here’s a list I compiled on my own with 7 criterias that I’m most concerned about, asides the fact that I don’t need to pay. The information is all over the site for most of these hosts. A few even had contradicting information within their own site so this is only a best effort compilation.

Snapdrive

Bandwidth Limits: 30GB/mth and 0.5GB/transfer/day

Max Transfer Rate: 100Kbps

Max File Size: 500MB

Max Storage Size: 2GB per account

Hotlinking Allowed: Yes

Files Expire: No

File Extension Supported: jpg divx jpeg png gif bmp txt mp3 mp4 wav wma wmv rar zip tar.gz swf xml xspf flv m3u asf 7z rm esp avim flac ogg bsp res mdl spr wad tga xls doc ods odt pdf tsk fla as avi izh m4a acc mkv jp2 j2k ani dvr-ms ppt mpg divx

Comments: Unless you want to host mp3 files for hotlinking purposes, Snapdrive is one of the best out there. They allow significantly higher bandwidth usage than others. They are also coming up with a drag-and-drop feature to upload files which I thought is brilliant. It’ll be much more user friendly to use it. A downside is that although they allow hosting of .mp3 files, you have to play it on sites using their own player. I personally am using Snapdrive to host all files other than .mp3

HotlinkFiles

Bandwidth Limits: 8GB/mth

Max Transfer Rate: 50Kbps

Max File Size: 50MB

Max Storage Size: 1GB per account

Hotlinking Allowed: Yes

Files Expire: Not stated

File Extension Supported: All

Comments: This is a good site, offers one of the higher bandwidth and storage limits. They also allow hotlinking of mp3 without conditions unlike snapdrive. I use this to host my mp3 files and some scripts. Everything else still goes to my Snapdrive account.

FileDen

Bandwidth Limits: 5GB/month

Max Transfer Rate: 100Kbps

Max File Size: 50MB

Max Storage Size: 1GB

Hotlinking Allowed: Yes

Files Expire: None

File Extension Supported: All

FileSend

Bandwidth Limits: Not stated

Max Transfer Rate: Not stated

Max File Size: Not stated

Max Storage Size: 300MB

Hotlinking Allowed: Not stated

Files Expire: If no download activity for 60 days

File Extension Supported: All

FileWind

Bandwidth Limits:  Unlimited

Max Transfer Rate:  Not stated

Max File Size: 500MB

Max Storage Size: No registration needed

Hotlinking Allowed: Not stated

Files Expire: If no download activity for 30 days

File Extension Supported: All EXCEPT php cgi htaccess pl com scr htm html

FileXoom

Bandwidth Limits: Unlimited - But 1 concurrent download per IP address

Max Transfer Rate: Not stated

Max File Size: 500MB

Max Storage Size: 2GB

Hotlinking Allowed: Uncertain. Can post mp3 on sites, yet need to verify for each download

Files Expire: If no download activity for 90 days

File Extension Supported: All

HugeUploads

Bandwidth Limits: 150MB/hour

Max Transfer Rate: 100KBPS

Max File Size: 500MB

Max Storage Size: Not registration needed

Hotlinking Allowed: No

Files Expire: If no download activity for 60 days

File Extension Supported: All

Filecrunch

Bandwidth Limits: Unlimited

Max Transfer Rate:  Not stated

Max File Size: 250MB

Max Storage Size: Unlimited

Hotlinking Allowed: No

Files Expire: It hints that the files won’t last forever but did not state exactly how long

File Extension Supported: All EXCEPT com xpi vbs exe php cgi pl

UploadComet

Bandwidth Limits: 1 file/min

Max Transfer Rate: Not stated

Max File Size: 2000MB

Max Storage Size: Supposedly, only you or UploadComet can delete the files. I assume they can identify you using accounts you’ve signed up with but I don’t see anything link to register or sign up.

Hotlinking Allowed: Not stated

Files Expire: 120days

File Extension Supported: All

I only use Snapdrive and HotlinkFiles so I can’t really review the rest. Some of them seem good to use for temporary distribution of files since they’ll delete the files soon after. Either way, hope the links helps. The information is accurate as of writing.

I also kept it in a table form to do an easier cross comparison - downloadable here.