Best TV Series of 2012

Here are what I think the best TV series that I have watched this year. In no particular order:

Fringe

Fringe is like X-Files but way cooler. The series follows Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop and Walter Bishop, members of a FBI 'Fringe Division' team. Sounds like X-Files right? Well, Fringe delves more around parallel universe, time travel and advanced scientific theories that are very-very interesting. There's new surprise and twist in every episode that once you started watching you could not stop. Made by the creator of Alias and Lost, J.J Abrams, Fringe is by far the best science fiction series that I've seen in recent times.

Mad Men

Set in the 1960s, Mad Men tells the story of Don Draper who works at the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency in New York City. The plot focuses on the business of the agency as well as the personal lives of the characters and depicts the changing moods and social behavior of 1960s America.

What do I love about Mad Men? Everything! The acting, visual style, costume design and the historical authenticity of 1960s America. Don Draper (Jon Hamm) just oozes sexual appeal. Every guy wants to be like Don Draper and every woman wants to be with him. He's like the epitome of coolness. Mad Men is in it's fifth season now and this is one TV show you won't want to miss.

Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White, a struggling high school chemistry teacher who was diagnosed with a deadly lung cancer. He turns to a life of crime, producing and selling methamphetamine with a former student, Jesse Pinkman with the aim of securing his family's financial future before he dies. Apparently Walter is so good at making meth that his drug becomes very popular among the drug dealers and junkies. Soon Walter made so much money that he was able to pay for his cancer treatment with a few millions left to spare. But of course running a very successful meth production is not without its troubles. That's when this story gets very interesting. I don't want to spoil the story for you so you'll have to watch it for yourself.

Breaking Bad teaches me that learning and being very good in chemistry can make you very rich and successful in life. It also taught me the proper way to deal drugs and what not to do to avoid being busted by the cops. Really educational stuff.

Sherlock

Now I have watched a couple of Sherlock Holmes movies and TV series before but they were largely shit compared to the contemporary update of the 2010 Sherlock series made by BBC. For one thing it was set in present time Britain and another, Benedict Cumberbatch breaths a whole new life into the Sherlock Holmes character. The producers aspired to produce a modern-day version of Conan Doyle's stories in which Sherlock uses today's technologies to find things out and solve crime.

If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes or stuff that makes you think a bit then Sherlock is definitely a must watch. The show is 90 minutes long but there are only 6 episodes so far and the third season won't come out until later next year.

Modern Family

Modern Family revolves around 3 American families. In one family there is Jay Prichett who is married to a much younger woman, Gloria who already has a son named Manny. The second family is Jay's daughter who married Phil Dunphy and they have 3 children Haley, Alex and Luke. Jay has a son, Mitchell who is gay and lives with his partner Cameron and they adopted a Vietnamese baby named Lily.

What do I like about this show? Well, it is truly funny! I have quite a high standard when it comes to comedies and most so-called comedies you see on TV today is totally crap. Modern Family however never fails to make me laugh at least a few times in every episode. Too bad you won't see this series on local TV any time soon you know because of the gay couple. But hey, you know where to get them regardless, right?

The Walking Dead

Imagine waking up from a coma one day to find the world dominated by flesh-eating zombies. That's what happened to deputy sherriff Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead which is based on the comic book series of the same name. I'm sure you have watched a few zombies flick before but they don't make them as good as this one. The zombies are so real and the suspense and twist in every episode is so thrilling, you'd be hanging by the edge of your seat. I can't praise this TV series enough, just go watch it already!

Community

Previously I said Modern Family was funny. Community is a bit like that but 10 times funnier. The series follows a group of students at a community college in the fictional town of Greendale, Colorado. I love how the show uses meta-humor and pop culture references, often parodying film and television cliches and tropes. And who doesn't love Troy and Abed. Those two are absolutely hillarious.

The Big Bang Theory

Although I've heard of The Big Bang Theory sitcom before, I didn't grow to like them until recently. The story revolves around 4 stereotypical geeks and their normal girlfriend next door Penny. The geekiniess and intellect of the four guys is contrasted for comic effect with Penny's social skills and common sense. What I like about The Big Band Theory? It's geekiness that I somewhat could relate to and of course Sheldon Cooper. Who doesn't love Shelly?

Suits

I find law dramas to be for the most part, either super boring like Law & Order or simply silly like Ally McBeal. Suits however brings a totally different perspective and outtake for this genre. It's fresh, interesting and the courtroom scene doesn't last more than a minute.

Harvey Spector is like James Bond for lawyers - cool, cunning and sophisticated. Mike Ross, the young and sometimes naive but genius pseudo-lawyer has his own ways of winning the audience's heart. Law dramas will never be the same again after Suits.

Person Of Interest

This series revolves around a former CIA agent John Reese who was recruited by a mysterious billionaire (Harold Finch) to prevent violent crimes in New York City. Finch and his former partner created the Machine, a computer system which uses information taken from 24 hours surveillance from cameras of all kind to predict future terrorist attacks. Finch later discovered that the machines was predicting ordinary crimes as well and while the government was not interested in these results, he was determined to find a way to stop those predicted crimes. Kind of like Minority Report but for television.

That's why Finch hires Reese to condict surveillance and intervene as needed, using his kick-ass skills acquired in the military and CIA. Produced by J.J Abrams, I knew from the start that this TV series is just going to be awesome. Abrams has this golden touch when it comes to TV shows. I love the fast-paced plots, believable stories and the fact that no super powers or supernatural elements were introduced in this drama series. For once it's just brains and braun.

Dexter

Aaah, America's favorite serial-killer. Dexter Morgan is by day a harmless and seemingly boring bloof spatter pattern analyst for the Miami Police Department. But he also leads a secret life as a serial killer. Here you will learn how to stalk people, kill them in cold blood and most importantly how to dispose off the body properly. That is also why we might never see this series being aired on local TV. That's just too bad.

American Horror Story

This particular TV series is not for the faint-hearted. If you like really-really scary stuff, this one is definitely for you. The first season - Murder House follows the story of a family that moves into an old mansion that is haunted by its former (dead) inhabitants. In fact, most of the family that lived in the house will turn out invariably dead either murdered or by suicide. Best watched alone, at night and with your doors locked.
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How to create a wireless hotspot with your computer

Did you know you can share your Internet connection on your PC or laptop using a wireless USB dongle or onboard WiFi card? Mac users can easily turn on wireless sharing with a few clicks but for Windows it's a bit more complicated. You have to change a myriad of settings and they don't always work.

This is where Connectify comes in handy. This software allows you to create a wireless hotspot or access point using any WiFi card or dongle without any complicated instructions. Just enter a WiFi name, choose the Internet connection to share and you're done.

There's a free and Pro version of the software. With the free version, your WiFi name must start with Connectify while for the Pro version you can choose any SSID you want. The Pro version also comes with several more features like 3G Internet sharing and drag and drop file transfer.

Connectify Hotspot is available for download at their website.
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KidZania Kuala Lumpur

A few months ago I brought my kid to KidZania Kuala Lumpur. Basically KidZania is a place where kids can pretend to be grown-ups and do grown-up things like work and stuff. Yeah I find that's a silly idea at first and refuse to spend my hard-earned 90 ringgit there. Then after my kid kept asking me to go, I decided to give it a go.

KidZania Kuala Lumpur is located in Mutiara Damansara just next to IKEA & The Curve. You can't miss it, there's an Air Asia plane partially protruding from the building. It's open every day including public holidays. There's only a single session during weekdays 10:00 am to 5:00 pm while on weekends they're open from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm in 2 sessions. Entrance is RM55.00 for kids aged 4 to 17 and RM35.00 for adults. Yes you can just let you kids go free and crazy in there but usually you would want to keep an eye for them so in the end you end up paying and going in as well. Kids can go in alone by adults must be accompanied by a children to go in. Very clever.

You get your tickets on the ground floor. Tip: come on weekdays, weekends are always crowded. Then you go up a few levels using the escalator to the actual KidZania attractions.

At the entrance you will be greeted by the (fake) customs people in the arrival hall. Kinda like in an airport. There they'll give you an electronic bracelet as proof of purchase and also to track you and your kids inside the facility.

First thing first you must cash the mock check for KidZos, the currency they use in KidZania at the CIMB counter. You get like 50 Kidzos or something to use around the establishment and on the way out you deposit the balance at the counter again and they'll give you this CIMB debit/ATM card.

The facilities are spread across two levels and the place might look rather small at first sight. The reality is, there are over 60 establishment and 90 activities for your kids to do and they'll be overwhelmed with choices.

The fire department is a popular attraction and there's even a queue to get into the place.

You get to ride the fire engine around the place.

And help put out fire on a burning hotel.

Become a surgeon and perform CPR on a patient.

Be a radio DJ for an hour. You'll get a recording of your voice on radio in a CD.

Read news on TV an bash the Anwar Ibrahim and the opposition!



Climb a four-storey building.

Future computer engineers or slackers?

Artsy pansy people.

This where you learn to cook sardines #LOL

Crazy streets performers banging trash bins and pails.

Some attraction are not very popular. Unlike in real life, not many people want to work at TNB.

For tired or bored parents there's a nice little lounge where you can order drinks and rest on the sofa or surf on the Internet-enabled computers.

There's one praying room for Muslims but it is very small and well-hidden.

There's so much fun and educational things your kids could do and you might not get to do them all even if you spend the whole day there. My advise is come early and pack a lunch. Food is sold inside KidZania but they're a tad expensive for my liking.



Every hour or so the KidZania theme song will be played through the PA system and like robots the employees will sing and dance to the song. It's compulsory and those who did not dance will be fired on the spot! Okay maybe not fired but they'll get into trouble or something I presume. If you hang around until closing time at 5:00 pm, you get to watch the extended version of the song and dance where every staff dance together at the town square. Weird creepy stuff I tell you.

My verdict: KidZania is a pretty cool place to bring your school-going kids. Bringing toddlers or children below 7 would be rather pointless because they don't really understand the point of the attractions and how to do stuff. The entrance fee might be a little expensive for some but trust me it's worth every penny. For more information head on to their website for more information.
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