Mystery solved!

Being the lazy person that I am, one of the first things I do after installing Firefox is to set up keyword search. This way, I can just type in whatever in the URL bar and out comes the result page in my chosen web services.

Being the poor person that I am, I use AVG for anti-virus. Not long ago, it popped up with a reminder that the then current version will not be updated after certain days and urged me to upgrade to the next version 8.0, which I did.

I haven't been playing around much in Firefox lately and mostly just used the bookmark to go to selected sites. I used the URL bar to search occasionally but those were all in English.

That's why I didn't notice the problem until today, when I tried to search 'Kagamine Rin' 'kokoro' 'kiseki' in Japanese. As soon as I typed in the terms, the "xxx has encountered a problem and needs to close" message jumped at me. All my attempts ended with the same error message and the Talk Back agent window. Time to troubleshoot.

It didn't happen when I search via Ctrl+K, only when I used the URL bar. I tried English, no problem. I tried Japanese, crashed. I tried Chinese, crashed. I went into about:config, nothing wrong. I tried rebooting the computer, same thing. I tried Mozilla Suite, no problem.

Then it dawned on me. During the few times that I searched this past week, I remember vaguely that there's some kind of green mark beside the search results, an indication that the link is deemed safe by AVG. I thought it might be the security toolbar I agreed to install at the time of upgrade. Not seeing an option to uninstall the toolbar by itself, I uninstalled the whole thing and reinstalled it minus the toolbar. Same thing.

I was at my wit's end and was considering switching to a different anti-virus software. As a last effort, I opened the suspect and tried to see if I can find a setting for it. Then my eyes landed on the LinkScanner icon. I clicked on it once. Nothing. I right-clicked on it. Nothing. I finally double clicked on it and got the option to appear. There's no mouse over description as well. Not too friendly to an UI dummy like me... -__-

Anyway, my keyword search is now back to normal after I disabled the LinkScanner. I'm so happy...（つД`）

Lessons for the day are
1) It can be a pain and sometimes downright frustrating to use non-English characters in an English software environment. It shouldn't be like this, especially considering that Windows XP (and I assume Vista as well?) is UTF-8.
2) Make your UI more friendly for people like me please!! I could have resolved the problem with a few mouse clicks and saved the time I wasted uninstalling and reinstalling and rebooting
3) Don't install all features by default! If you offer a customized route during installation, makes all features beside the core component (in this case the anti-virus part) available for choosing. And have clear descriptions for the features and let the user decides. I wouldn't had enabled the LinkScanner if I had the choice.
4) Stop ranting on and on and making the post so long...

人はやばり光と希望を求める、そして誰でも救われるを信じたいかな？

Having experienced numerous ACG works in various genres over the years, I've come up with a pet theory on human nature, which basically encompasses the above rhetorical question: Humans, after all, seek after light and hope, and want to believe that anyone can be saved. I'm not good at translating my thoughts into words, so I'll just briefly summarize it with a few general scenarios.

Case 1. The 'bad' guy usually started 'good' and innocent until something drastic happened to him and caused him to be the way he is. After clashing swords a couple times with the protagonist, he is touched by the protagonist's personality and is reminded of the good side of human nature and get converted.

Case 2. A character from a 'bad' faction grew up 'bad' because that's the way he's supposed to be in that given environment. After numerous encounters and conflicts with the protagonist, he is attracted by the protagonist despite their difference in background, value, and status. Those around still condemn/fear him, but the feelings between him and the protagonist, whether it's love or friendship, will allow him to leave his old way of life and be with the protagonist.

Case 3. The guy decided to behave in a certain way on his own accord. He may act all bad-ass and mighty, cold and merciless, or not caring about anything, but he is lonely and longs for something deep in his heart and subconsciously. The protagonist brings him out of his own confinement, and he has a change of heart.

The 'bad' guys in those cases may range from a new recruit for the opposing side, an infamous killer, a leader, a user of supernatural power, or a Mazoku/monster/youkai/spirit/ma. They all chase after something. If the something is of light in nature, they would obtain it and be saved. If the something is of darkness in nature, they would end horribly should they obtain it.

Sound familiar? They should, as these are basic elements and staples to a lot of the ACG works and overused to the point of cliche. Yet people never get tired of these patterns and themes, and they continue to create and consume works built around them. Why? This is where my pet theory comes in.

I believe that since the day that Adam and Eve were ousted from the Garden of Eden and separated from God, there exists a void and desire in the human heart that can only be filled by that which is from God. That's why we seek after light and hope and believe in such power. That's why we want to see people of darkness be saved and pulled back into the realm of light. By seeing a good ending for those people, we hope for the same for ourselves.

There are people saying they're fine being in darkness and rather stay there, including a number of my friends, but I do think they're bluffing themselves and/or ignoring what their hearts are telling them.

Personally, I have nothing against such themes, and I'm sucker for those to a degree. The only instant where I will not tolerate this is when the subject in question is a devil or satan itself, as I believe their paths cannot be changed once they chose to rebel against God and got thrown down from Heaven. Other than those, I'm good with any variation of the said themes.

I used to be pretty dark, btw, without anything drastic happened to me. I may not be completely in the light now, but I'm definitely and surely going there. With the help of my good Shepherd, of course. :)

SP2!!
Yes, that's Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2.
Yes, I finally installed it today (well, it was really midnight yesterday) after the error message while trying to update my anti-virus software engine.

Man, did that take forever or what? I even went for a shower during the install. Well, I was planning to use Little Black to pass the time, but my attempt was met with the 'Operating system not found' message that I used to see...

I'm hoping it's just a side effect of having it on for months and just sitting there doing nothing. Maybe I'll be greeted with Windows 95 again when I turn it on. Don't really have the energy for this. Maybe next week. Updating a whole bunch of stuff requiring SP2 is hard work and very time consuming. Not to mention it takes quite a number of restarts. -__-

So I have IE 7 now! Haven't fired it up yet to see what it looks like. I'll probably do that after Little Black comes back to me...

ココロ(Kokoro/Heart). This is the song, or rather, the PV that lured me into the fantastic world of Vocaloids.

I've briefly mentioned how I came to know this piece of wonderful work, so I'll skip it here and focus more on the emotional side.

To be frank, the plot scenario isn't that original to begin with so I wasn't too enamoured by it until seeing the PV. I'm a daydreaming (XD) type of person so it's always that much more meaningful when something is associated with visuals and a story. I teared up when I saw the PV, and the tears threatened to spill over when I saw the PV for the answer song, ココロ・キセキ(Kokoro Kiseki/Heart.Miracle), by the same author. And I actually cried when I saw the PV for ココロ＋ココロ・キセキ.

ココロ, by itself, is like a gracefully woven story between two star-crossed lovers (i.e. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet), but with ココロ・キセキ, the tragedy is elegantly transformed into a beautiful romance (i.e. Gonzo's Romeo x Juliet). OK, I'm stretching it as I'm currently watching the anime, but bear with me here. (I'm only halfway through the series, but I'm assuming it won't end like Willy's version.)

Ahem, back to ココロ. While the robot of miracle ceased to function at the end in both songs, ココロ leaves a slightly melancholy aftertaste, and ココロ・キセキ's is tinted with a small happiness. Together, the two compliment and complete each other. To pack so much emotion into these short minutes also reminded me of Hoshi no Koe, or the lingering feelings in the first Inu Yasha movie.

I was watching Bleach ep.160 yesterday and it had a scene where Kaien was explaining his view of 'kokoro' to Rukia, that 'kokoro' exists between two people when they connect with each other, and that the 'kokoro' is left with the other person when one of them is no longer there. I only nodded my head and thought it very true when I read this part in the manga, but seeing it in the anime after ココロ was yet another experience. I immediately related the concept to ココロ, how the 'kokoro' was obtained because there's a relationship between the scientist and the robot, and how even after the scientist dies, the 'kokoro' was left with the robot. The robot stopped in the end in both songs, but the 'kokoro' is now left with all those that have viewed and been touched by the songs and the PVs.

On the other hand, when one dies alone with no one to leave the 'kokoro' with, it's a lonely thing. The lonely scientist in ココロ died before the robot obtained the 'kokoro', so he still ended lonely. In ココロ・キセキ, the robot obtained the 'kokoro' while the scientist was still alive. Even though the scientist still died before the robot, he was able to leave the 'kokoro' with the robot. He did not end lonely.

Another thing in the same episode that resonates with ココロ is when Rukia was reflecting the various emotions she's come to experience, like the robot who came to realize joy and sadness once she obtained the 'kokoro'. Rukia actually resembles both the lonely scientist and the robot. When she was adopted into the Kuchiki family, she was distanced by those around her and was alone until Kaien came into the scene. Her heart was closed again after Kaien died in her hands and she became cold. After she met Ichigo, her heart slowly opened up and she became, in Renji's word, human. Just as Kaien had left his 'kokoro' with Rukia, Rukia will have someone to leave her 'kokoro' with when her time's up. That's what nakama is for.

See. I told you I'm a daydreaming type of person. XD

*All the links in this post are from Nico Nico Douga. I think the video are also available on YouTube in a lower quality.

KAITO はすごいね。ていうか、アニメですごいね... え? 何のはなし? 島唄よ。(KAITO sure is amazing. Actually, anime is amazing... Eh? What am I talking about? Shima-Uta/Island Song.)

Not making sense? OK, let's backtrack a bit. Well, it'll still be in somewhat reverse chronological order, but you'll (hopefully) get it by the end.

I was introduced to the famed VOCALOID Kagamine Rin(鏡音リン)'s song "kokoro"(ココロ) on YouTube via an ACG-oriented Chinese forum. My impression of VOCALOID songs were denpa and pop, neither of which were my cup of tea, so I didn't have much expectation. But I was near tear after I watched the PV. (I'll leave the details related to "kokoro" for another post.) Two weeks ago, I signed up for a Niconico Video account and searched for the PV, and eventually linked out to the author's mylist page. From there, I watched his PV for "Byakkoya no Musume"(白虎野の娘) and was instantly captured by the song.

That was the first time I heard KAITO sing, and I was thoroughly amazed. I started searching for KAITO's songs on Niconico, and I hit Shima Uta. (While I'm typing this, I found another Shima-Uta by the same KAITO + Fuuga Naoto, which is awesome!) Unfortunately there's no mp3 available for this version of the song, so I can only listen to it using Songza or Niconico. On a whim, I searched 'Shima Uta' on Songza and various tracks came up in the result. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. Including KAITO's, I now have 5 versions of Shima Uta in my Songza playlist.

So that explained the KAITO part. What about the anime part? Well, Shima Uta is Japanese folk music, and this type of music isn't usually liked too much by the masses except for old folks (pun intended). Nor is it something that can be heard anywhere, especially if one lives on the other side of the Pacific from the island nation. I, for one, had never come in contact with any Japanese traditional music until my interest in ACG blossomed.

The Inu Yasha anime opened the door to Japanese traditional music for me, and the genre quickly grew on me. Then, while watching Samurai Champloo, I heard Asazaki Ikue's "Obokuri~Eeumi." It might had been the atmosphere of the series itself, but I took a liking to the song instantly. While I don't actively seek out Japanese folk songs, I've been very open to the style since. If I didn't watch anime, I'd probably never be interested in the Japanese traditional and folk music.

On a side note, I recently learned of the meaning behind the lyrics of Shima-Uta. Time has changed, but the emotion remains. Rather than the vestige scarred by war, KAITO's Shima-Uta seems to convey a wish for peace after stormy times. The version by KAITO + Fuuga Naoto, on the other hand, connects both expressions in an act of oyako performance. It's simply great.

You'd be surprised by the scope and diversity of all things I've come in contact because of ACG. XD

Continuing from a previous post, here's more first impression on some of April's new series.

狂乱家族日記 (Kyouran Kazoku Nikki) ep.1
I wasn't too sure what this is about, but I decided to check it out anyway. The lead female isn't very likeable and reminds me of the bossy side of Suzumiya Haruhi, but I'm guessing it'll change later, perhaps even related to something dark and painful from her past? The children seem normal enough to me, and I'm all for the non-human ones, i.e., the lion, the robot, and the pink jellyfish. XD The scene where Ooka was scolding the robot that a child shouldn't attack his parent, I was more bothered by the fact that he was pointing a gun at his child. Sure enough, he was later scolded by Kyouka for that very reason. The cast is a bit on the younger side, so I'm not keen on seeing any kind of romantic elements. The art style is bright and colourful, fitting for a comical series. I'll keep an eye on this one.

Vampire Knight ep.1
I've read some of the manga and heard the LaLa subscriber service drama CD before, so I'm somewhat familiar with this series. I'm glad they're using most of the seiyuu cast from the drama CD, which is on the heavy side, but why is Koyasu Takehito absent again? Same in Zombie-Loan... :( The actual animation is better than the preview image on the website, and it didn't inherit the awkward human skeletal frame from the manga, so that's good. The manga is still on-going so I'm not sure up to which volume the anime will be. I'll be watching this.

Chi's Sweet Home
Technically, this isn't a full-size series, as it only runs about 5 minutes everyday like Damekko Doubutsu from before. I'm a sucker for animals, and cute kitten is right in my alley. Nothing much to say about this, except that I highly recommend it.

Fireball ep.1-3
Another mini-series that runs for about one and a half minute per episode. This one was recommended to me by Neko-tan, and I instantly fell in love with it. The 3D modelling and motion are excellent, and the script is full of neta and hilarious. It's really hard to imagine Disney has a part in this. I can't count how many times I've rewatched each episode. It's that good. You'll regret it if you miss this. I mean it.

Special A ep.1-2
I've read the manga before and found it interesting enough, so I sort of decided to watch it when the news of the anime came out. I haven't seen much of Goto Yuko outside of Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, so it's refreshing to see her as a bright and energetic girl full of fighting spirit. Not a big fan of her singing, though, so I'll pass on that OP... The ED is fine, but nothing special. Fukuyama Jun sure can act, but same thing, I have yet to hear a good song from him. The show seems entertaining, to say the least. I'll be watching this.

More on the April new series later.