BACK FROM THE DEAD: Maids and Zombies Review

Beneath the surface we call reality, lies a dark dimension..


Cover art

Synopsis:

Maple Cloverwood is your average fujoshi schoolgirl with above average looks. One day she was assaulted by a zombie at school, but that was just the beginning to a nightmarish lifestyle - one that involves daily transport to a dark dystopian world facing a problem with zombie infestation! Now she must kill zombies to survive, or die horribly as an undead herself...


Theme: Maids, Zombies, Moe, Guro (holy shit it's in my strike zone)
Fair warning: This series is not for kids!
Price: Rm15 per book (not including postage fee)
Page count: Roughly about 100 pages per book.

===========================================================
Backstory// ~ personal story with Maids and Zombies ~

*Skip this part if you want to read only about the review

I first noticed RavenHart's art during 2013, that was when I frequently visit a facebook group for Malaysian Artists called MAWA (Malaysia Anime World Artworks/Artists). He does really great sketches ranging from cute girls to monstrous monsters, DC and Tokusatsu Superheroes, to detailed background artworks. It was not long until I checked his page and started to follow him.

In the same year, he made it to local anime conventions like Comic Fiesta as a booth vendor and to my delight, he started selling his self-published/ independent ("Indie") comic, "Maids and Zombies". I didn't attend CF that year, but posts from CF attendees pops up on my wall like mushrooms after the rain (Malay Proverb) and one of those was his post. Upon seeing the book in a physical copy, I immediately want one, but to my disappointment the book was sold out some days after the event, even though I already PM'd RavenHart personally. So I had to wait for the next batch.

Fast forward to 2015, somewhere during October. I saw RavenHart's post about reprints of volume 1 and the prints for volume 2. My heart leaped with joy. I immediately pm'd him for a copy of both volumes, which he replied to. After some transaction, the books finally arrived safely in my arms. Yes, this review was meant to be done as soon as I finished reading the books. A series of events delayed the process, but finally here it is for the public to read. So please enjoy my detailed review!


===========================================================
In-depth Review:

*pictures are taken from Artist's page with permission.





The covers are slightly darker than the digital one RavenHart posted in his page.


Volume 1 Review:






Juicy artwork and gore details

Dynamic panelling


Highlights of volume 1

Uncensored Moe!!


SENPAI Character! Megane FOR THE WIN!


Look at that bullet fire details. GAWD! Now that's dedication!


If I had a boner, this page would literally kill it every. single. time.


Uncensored Gore!!



Pros:


+ nice moe artstyle. Sasuga RavenHart.


+ eerie zombies illustration

 
+ ZOMBI REIPU!
+ lots of derp moments! derp faces! MEME materials!


+ periodically, ecchi shots + pansu shots

+ breaking the 4th dimension


Cons:

- quite confusing panelling resulting in awkward story-telling (feels a bit amateurish, somewhat unpolished direction)

- awkward dialogues particularly in the grammar and choice of words
    e.g (used 'dat' instead of 'that', 'kinda' instead of 'kind of')

 - fonts could've been better. Understandable due to lack of manpower

- the art is inconsistent, sometimes the hands and feet are too small

    *probably to emphasize anime-moe artstyle, but there are a few shots where the hands and feets are smaller than usual

- inconsistent sfx, most of the time it uses english sfx (swoosh, stab, thump) but there are times when malay sfx are used instead ("Dush")


Vol 1 Personal Commentary:

- Can't decide if Maple's awesome or straightaway just your average derpina, but I personally think that she's just your average derpina who is slightly cuter than average girls.

Now that we're done with Volume 1, let's take a look at volume 2!


Volume 2 Review:
preserved theme from the previous volume:
+ nice moe artstyle
+ eerie zombies illustration
+ ZOMBI REIPU!
+ lots of derp moments! derp faces! MEME materials!
+ periodically, ecchi shots + pansu shots
+ breaking the 4th dimension


There's an overall improvement here compared to volume 1, but let's start with some pages, shall we?

The story continues directly from volume 1

From here on, it's zombie killing time~ oh yeah~

+ Improved story-telling

+ Improved panelling

+ Character development

+ Fast paced action! with uncensored RYONA, BLOOD and GORE!

+ PLOT TWIST!!

+ one full page illustration of zombie attack in a tattered shopping mall:



+ includes fan art submissions from fans (for me this is a big plus, showing that the author really cares about the fans)



+ BADASS character: Angie


- Overall improvement from Volume 1
- Panelling and storytelling is much, much better. Still has room for improvement though
- Dialogues feels more natural, removed a lot of 'Dat' from volume 1
- Printing improvement, particularly in the printing margin
- Fonts are mostly the same, but due to the size, makes it easier to read compared to volume 1
- Art is getting more consistent

Weaknesses are still there, but they're getting harder to find.

Overall, volume 2 is leaps and bounds improvement from the previous volume.


===========================================================
Final say:

• Pick up maids and zombies if you want to have a casual indie zombie-flick graphic literature. The girls are cute and the zombies are cool.
• Also since this is an indie publication, there is no media censorship at all which makes it HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE. Who knows just how much the value will go up in another 10 or 20 years? ;) 
• Extra reason to own this manga: The author will personally draw an illustration for you at the last page of each volume:

Name censored, coz I feel like it.

 I am personally looking forward to the next installment of the series. This is definitely going into my following list now!


Rate: 3.8 out of 5 stars

That's all for my review folks! Follow RavenHart's page at http://on.fb.me/1IEkHFY

Pictures courtesy of RavenHart from the following album:

Sneak peek vol 1: http://on.fb.me/1TutPTU
Sneak peek vol 2: http://on.fb.me/1IDZLPj

-----END-----

GHost93 Item Effect

A cool 2.5D Doujin Game released during Comiket 84. Author's site: http://wahiko94.at-ninja.jp/

Since nobody made it yet, I thought maybe I can make it myself. This is the list of items as appeared on Merchant #1 in GHost93. I took these from http://wikiwiki.jp/hack9 with a little edits of my own. For reference.

SWORD/MELEE

Name in Katakana	Name in English	Selling Price	Buying price	Damage	MP Consumption	Remarks
ダンビラ	Broadsword	15	7	1	-	Sword
ナイフ	Knife	9	4	1	-	Knife
ナイフ+1	Knife +1	18	9	2	-	Knife
ダンビラ+1	Broadsword +1	25	12	2	-	Sword
アイスナイフ	Ice knife	150	75	50	-	Consumable, knife
クナイ	Kunai	25	12	4	-	Attacks can also go up and down
アイスソード	Ice Sword	250	125	99	-	Consumable
カッター+1	Cutter +1	5	2	6	3	Attacking while returning
ダンビラ+2	Broadsword +2	25	12	4	-
クナイ+1	Kunai +1	37	18	9	-
ダンビラ+3	Broadsword +3	30	15	6	-
ニジ	Stevenage	999	499	10	1
チェンソー	Chainsaw	15	7	5	3	Maximum 12HIT
Sブレーカ	S breaker	1	0	16	-	Instant death at random, maximum 3HIT
ヒロミツ	Hiromitsu	1	0	9	-	Instant death at random
サイコダガー	Saikodaga	1	0	3	-
キノボウ	Kinobou	1	0	3	-	Maximum 3HIT
キノボウ+1	Kinobou +1	1	0	8	-	Maximum 3HIT
チェンソー+1	Chainsaw +1	20	10	10	5	Maximum 12HIT
コガラスマル	Kogarasumaru	1	0	8	-	Instant death at random
ヤスツナ	Yasutsuna	1	0	0	-	Sword

That chick, again

Ok I'm late in finding out so what.

More pictures of the chick featured in this post.

BECAUSE SHE'S FUCKING AWESOME.

And if she starts doing cosplay shoots after this I'm gonna find her pics and fap to them.

GODDAMMIT YOU'RE JUST TOO FUCKIN ADORABLE TO ME
AND FUCK YOU PEOPLE FOR NOT UNDERSTANDING HER WORTH.

 

An efficient MRT system is vital to make Malaysia a productive country

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/7/16/business/11659363&sec=business


original:

An efficient MRT system is vital to make KL a great city

Malaysia has the highest vehicle ownership after the United States



THAT the Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley area needs great improvement in public transport is undeniable for upwards of five to six million people who live and work in this area, with many of them having to commute long distances to get to work.

A key part of making a large city like Kuala Lumpur and its environs liveable for work, play, leisure and learning is an efficient urban public transport system. Look at every great city in the world London, New York, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore and its hallmark is a well-functioning public transport system which can transport commuters quickly and cheaply through the city.

Only an efficient and well-planned system can move large numbers of people during the morning and evening rush hours for a large city. At the heart of such a network is a mass rapid transit system or MRT, and this is in turn supplemented by other modes of transport such as walkways, buses, taxis and commuter trains.

Our share of public transport in urban transportation is a mere 16.4% compared with Hong Kong's 87%, for instance. To improve that figure to anywhere near Hong Kong's, we badly need a major MRT already in the works.

It is a complete fallacy to allege or believe that we are sitting on our haunches, waiting for all the line extensions and new lines planned right up to 2020 before we begin to sort out all our urban transport woes.


Malaysia has the highest vehicle ownership after the United States. For just 28 million people, the country has 11 million cars and nine million motorcycles.

We have done plenty of work already, using a holistic approach which aims at simultaneous improvements of all our modes of transportation. We have set ambitious targets for these and many are being achieved.

No, we are not pushing through the MRT because there is a lot of expenditure involved and it will contribute to economic growth. We are pushing it through with the greatest and utmost urgency because we badly need it we needed it many years ago.

Because we lacked an efficient means to transport people, Malaysia has the highest vehicle ownership after the United States. For just 28 million people, we have 11 million cars and nine million motorcycles. With about four million households, the average number of cars per household is more than two!

Because of insufficient capacity for urban transport and the cheap prices of petrol and cheap costs for maintaining a car, there has been an explosion in car ownership which has considerably contributed to the urban crawl.

Our first strategy is not to restrict cars on the road by such methods as increasing petrol prices and having area licensing fees for cars entering congested zones during peak periods the so-called push strategy. We can't unless we provide an alternative first.

That's why we are putting a lot of emphasis on the pull strategy whereby we increase the capacity of the public transport system, make it more affordable, easier to use and more people-friendly.

Some of these will take time, such as the new lines for public transport for Greater Klang Valley, which is an essential and vital part of making the transport system efficient and ensure that it reaches everyone.

We are pushing ahead strongly by awarding tenders rapidly and transparently. We have kept the public informed at every stage and we have sought to obtain the buy-in of all stakeholders. We must get the MRT off the ground and going, otherwise KL's transport system will eventually grind to a complete halt.

Immediate targets

Our more immediate targets are quite tough. The Prime Minister has set a target for the share of public transport by the end of 2012. Considering that it was just 10%12% in 2009 and the private transport share continues to rise with ownership of cars, we have a tough task we need to increase the use of public transport.

We shall try very hard and if we fail in this area, it won't be for lack of trying. Still our achievements have been tremendous. In 2011, ridership on public transport during peak morning hours actually went up by 85,000 commuters, an increase of more than a third when compared with 2010.

In terms of customer satisfaction we targeted 50% and achieved 53%, or 106% of target. For the bus peak load factor we targeted 56% and got 96% for an achievement rate of 171%. Our overall composite scoring came in at 108%, indicating overall over-achievement.

Basically what we did was to increase capacity and efficiency on all the various modes rail, buses and taxies and improved integration within and between them.

Briefly (you can go to our website for details), in rail we enhanced KTM Komuter and LRT frequencies and capacity by increasing cars per train and the capacity of cars. There are also ongoing and planned expansions of the light rail transit (LRT) systems and the KL monorail system.

For the bus system, we have put in 470 more feeder buses to revamp and upgrade the feeder bus system, refurbished a total of 1,102 bus stops in the Klang Valley in 2010 and 2011, and introduced the New Bus Ticketing System (NBTS) to integrate the cashless Touch 'n Go fare payment in buses with the other modes of public transport.

There is a new business model for taxis which the Prime Minister has already announced. It will emphasise owner-operated taxies instead of the current system of largely third parties who hold licences. We are thinking in terms of centralised taxi services system and our ultimate aim is to make our taxies on par with the best in Asean.

We want to integrate all these through pedestrian linkages, parking facilities for park-and-ride, and a ticketing and automated fare collection system which works across all systems. Some of these are already in implementation.

Concomitant with integration will be the upgrading of facilities, including KTM station upgrades, building of bus terminuses outside or on the edge of the city to reduce congestion (known as Hentian Akhir Bandar) and the setting up of intra-city transport at frequent intervals to move people through the city.

Obviously there is much to be done before Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley has an integrated and well-functioning transport system but we are already off to a good start. The MRT is taking shape, the LRT and monorail are being expanded, and existing facilities are being used to their limit and beyond.

For all you know, it may already be time for you to leave your car at home and take public transport to work. Give it a try, you may enjoy the ride!

● Datuk Seri Idris Jala is CEO of Pemandu and also Minister in the Prime Minister's Department. 

What I think is not only KL needed this transformation....every other state needs it! Come on Malaysia! Stop spoiling the elites!

Fast food chains cut trans fat under regulations

From an article published: Tuesday July 17, 2012 MYT 8:18:00 AM


NEW YORK: Fast-food patrons in New York City are eating far less unhealthy fat since restrictions on its use by restaurants were imposed four years ago, a report sponsored by the city said.

Trans fats, especially common in hydrogenated vegetable oils, have been linked to long-term heart disease risk.

The study, released on Monday, found the average meal went from containing nearly three grams of trans fat to just half a gram.

"It's a small step forward," said Alice Lichtenstein, a nutrition science researcher from Tufts University in Boston, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

"This is just trans fat. It doesn't have any effect on calories. It doesn't mean that you can eat as much of it as you want," she told Reuters Health.

"We have to think about these changes within the context of the whole diet. This is one small change in the right direction. We need a whole lot more."

In 2006, New York City passed regulations prohibiting restaurants from serving food that contains partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and has half a gram or more of trans fat per serving. Those restrictions went into effect in 2008.

To test the policy's result, researchers briefly surveyed customers leaving 168 different fast-food restaurants, belonging to 11 popular chains, the year before and the year after the restrictions were first enforced.

Those chains included McDonald's, Burger King , Subway, and Yum Brands Inc restaurants KFC and Pizza Hut.

Based on receipts from 6,969 customers surveyed in 2007, the average fast-food meal purchased that year had 2.9 grams of trans fat. By 2009, that figure was 0.5 grams in a sample of 7,885 customers.

The number of meals without any trans fat increased from 32 percent of all purchases before the regulations to 59 percent afterward.

What's more, there was no spike in the amount of saturated fat in fast-food meals during the study period - as some had feared - so the total amount of "bad" fats in the average purchase dropped substantially.

Trans fat is "fully replaceable with healthier oils, so we knew that was something that could be changed," said Christine Curtis, from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, who worked on the study.

"We were really pleased," she told Reuters Health. The study "really demonstrates that local regulation can reduce exposure to trans fat."

Curtis said the trans-fat regulation could end up leading to health benefits down the line. "It does have the potential to have a really big impact on cardiovascular disease risk," she said. - Reuters

SO now, maybe people should start develop apps that focuses on issues like obesity and healthy food. - Mr. Z

Fight against obesity is major investment trend (from the star online)

Taken directly from an article published: Tuesday July 17, 2012 MYT 7:46:00 AM
Video is from onion movie (not directly related to the article, but still funny nonetheless.)

 

LONDON: The fight against obesity will be a major investment trend for the next 25-50 years, a report by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch said on Tuesday, listing 50 companies in areas from healthcare and pharmaceuticals to food and sports that could benefit.

Worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980 to over 500 million people and keeps increasing, according to the World Health Organization. The related costs to public health and the economy are skyrocketing.

 A study funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that about one-third of American adults are obese and another one-third overweight.

"Obesity may be the most pressing health challenge facing the world today and efforts to tackle it will shape thinking by policymakers and in boardrooms around the world," said Sarbjit Nahal, equity strategist at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research.

"Global obesity is a mega-investment theme for the next 25 years and beyond." The world's biggest insulin producer Novo Nordisk and U.S companies including orthopedic device makers Zimmer Holdings Inc and Stryker Corp are among those in the pharmaceuticals and healtcare sector that are best placed to benefit from the fight against obesity, based on an estimate of current sales and how this could drive growth, the report said.

In the food sector, the report ranks some 20 companies on the basis of how they could access a global "health and wellness" market it estimates at $663 billion, and how they are prepared to respond to increasing pressure to reduce sugar and fat levels in food products.

 France's Danone and U.S. firms Dole and Seneca Foods Corp. make the top of the BofA list in this sector, with the highest exposure to the fight against obesity. "Although it is difficult to accurately gauge the link between such exposure and share price performance ... we still consider fighting obesity exposure an important positive point to track," the report said.

With diets and related products a $4 billion market in the United States, the report said, companies such as Weight Watchers also made the list together with nearly 20 sports apparel and equipment stocks includingNike and Adidas. The sports sector "is the longer-term play, but we believe that promoting physical activity will become a key priority for more government health policies," the report said.

Obesity is defined as having a body mass index - a measure of height to weight - of 30 or greater. Overweight means a BMI of 25 to 29.9. The percentage of Americans who are obese has tripled since 1960 to 34 percent, while the incidence of extreme or "morbid" obesity has risen six-fold, to six percent. The pricetag of obesity has also soared, with the condition contributing an additional $190 billion a year in healthcare costs, or one-fifth of all healthcare spending. - Reuters

Bud and Zery plays SFIII 3rd Strike

Me and my friend's casual matches:

So Skullgirls are now downloadable/purchasable from psn (ps3) and xbox live (xbox 360).

Great.

Except i dont own any of them.

=\

Plus Tic Neesan

Wacky show. No subs. Basic japanese dialogue for (1) and (2).


ep 1+2



ep3+4

What is art? What is copyright?

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT SUPPORT EITHER PLAGIARISM, FORGERY, COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT OR ANY MIXTURE OF THEM .

What is art? What is copyright? Is it right for us to claim ownership of a piece of art, when what we did is just make an inferior copy of the original?

I've just read chapter 7 of Billy Bat, a comic/manga by the renown mangaka/comic artist Urasawa Naoki. It's a pleasant read, and I find myself immersed inside the mysterious events unfolding in the manga.

In this latest chapter I've read, Urasawa cleverly put his words in the dialogues of the characters, discussing about what art is, and the issues of plagiarism - an issue very much delicate and sensitive to artists, which strikes home to me - I'm a digital artist myself, being involved with projects that requires my expertise as lead concept artist, sprite artist, and background artist.

These are a portion of the manga I'm talking about [SPOILER ALERT]:

*Copyright of the manga belongs to Naoki Urasawa and Kodansha.

What is art?
As being told in the manga, art is an expression - when the artist is inspired, he materializes that inspiration. That materialization comes to be called 'art'. To categorize them, people give names to similar classes of art - manga, drawing, lyrics, literature, architecture, design, song, composure, and many more.

But the original was not the one the artist himself creates. If the artist reads a lot of books or manga, he may have 'borrowed' stuffs from those readings, mixing and matching them.

And what is copyright?
Let's not forget that copyright is a manmade law. And as with every manmade law, it's not perfect. But as long as it keeps food on the table for the artist, it's enough. Law is initially made to protect. But with protection, comes confinement - which limits freedom. Quoting Robert Kiyosaki, "That's why the place with most security is prison. There's no freedom."

So who is the original author?
Who is it that inspires us?

We look at another experienced human, anskillful work of art, and we feel inferior.
But we forgot that he's just human, he's just another creation by God.

Never forget.
"God created man in his own image "

Look around us. Before we know it, we confine ourselves into manmade things. We look at manmade things, we forgot natural things. We become conceited. We think we can do everything on our own. We think we're great. We forgot we are only human, we are only inferior beings. Why not? We are surrounded by inferior creatures around us, we believe that everyone else is stupid, but the stupid one is actually us.

We must remind ourselves, we're only a work of art by the almighty God. I'm not atheist.
We must understand that we are not born with sin. We sin ourselves with our imperfectness in the course of our life. I'm not Christian.

Praise be the Lord.

Skullgirls....i like!

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Skullgirls - Friday Night Fights: Mike Z vs Render HD, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Aquarion EVOL is SO FUCKING STUPID!

Just a game developer's life....3

Derpmin: "Hey look XNA is a great game making tool and we can export the game we make to xbox 360 and windows phone 7! ISNT THAT GREAT!"

Derplis & Derpsery: "YEAAAAY!!!"

2 years later, our 2D platformer side scrolling action game was still not completed/released.

WHAT's THE PROBLEM?

C#? Manual programming? Management? Slow graphic development (why not if photoshop always crash when used with JDontwantdownloader)?

NO.

It's just that microsoft is inferior, no matter what era it is. Even if used by most of the human population.

What's superior?

Konjak uses Scirra's classic construct  to make his indie games like iconoclasts. And mind you, iconoclasts is much, much better than the game we're making.

Where did things go wrong?

I can only curse GeeMann who brainwashed Derpmin.

I;m fucked up and the deadline's around the corner....shit.....

Just a game developer's life...2

JDownloader used with photoshop will crash photoshop because of JDownloader's fuckedup clipboard monitoring function.

When people who experienced this went to JD's forum, the developers insist that the problem lies with java having a gay relationship with the OS or Photoshop is trash, but not JD.

The solution proposed was 'turn off JD's clipboard monitoring function' or photoshop's, either one.

SERIOUSLY, WTF.

CTRL+C and CTRL+V is a fundamental element in both program, but apparently they're like zionist israeli jews and palestine, with photoshop playing the palestine role all the time.

Fuck you JD.

Btw Starbucks is delicious like fuck.

Just a game developer life....1

Fuck you, Graphics Gale.

Paint.NET + Cracked Potosop is superior.

Again, Fuck you, Graphics Gale.

Who the fuck right-click to deselect an object?

Ever heard of CTRL+D?

Your layer pane is also stupid.

Overall, you're shit for wasting my time.

If you're an ugly cosplayer

just in case you are offended, it's ok because it's supposed to.

Who's tha chick?

THOSE ABS!
MMMM......DELICIOUSSSSS

WHO IN THE HELL IS SHE !?

THOSE ARMS! THEY'RE....BEAUTIFULLLLL MMMMMMMMMMMMM...................

Fantasy Kaleidoscope 2 PV

new touhou doujin anime PV by Manpuku jinja. same group/person who did fantasy kaleidoscope. seems to focus on Subterranean Animism. Also, melee reimu is lol

Happy New year 2012

Events leading to 2012:

WENT TO CF on the first day (18/12) <-shimokawa mikuni live!!!
dangling mah crotch
christmas but no vacation was given
dangling mah crotch


28/12: wed
A dream about the world falling apart.
A sudden bomb attack from another continent.
A declaration of power and governance.
Families drifting further apart.
A false sensation of reality.
A sudden feeling of nostalgia.
A weird surge of inspiration.
A voice shouting inside to take action.

That was the dream I had this morning,
and believe me, it got me motivated
to finish what I started.
dangling mah crotch

29/12: thu
A dream about society.
Unfamiliar and familiar faces.
Cheering on me to jump from a high place.
I could die.
But I know this is just a dream.
I readied my gut,
and took the leap.
The crowd's noise grew even louder.
I wouldn't die, would I?
I know I can do this.
I have experience from doing long jump when in high school.

But when I succeeded, there were no cheers for me.
Only cheers for the next person to jump.
And then I realized:
The society is patiently watching and waiting for you to fail.
Only failures get cheered on.
The one who succeed, continues to move on, business as usual.
Because what's really important is not the cheers.
It's to survive.
dangling mah crotch

30/12: fri
spacing out
lurking for c81 stuffs
updated this blog lol
dangling mah crotch

31/12: sat
went shopping
lurking for c81 stuffs
dangling mah crotch

1/1: today
post new year stuff lol
dangling mah crotch

Learn Other Language

RUSSIAN
Sites for Grammar
masterrussian.com/ - Lessons and vocabulary
www.russianlessons.net/ - Beginner lessons and the site I use for referencing basic grammar
www.alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/ - My favourite site for grammar, goes right from the basics to what you need to construct complex sentences. Great examples with
sentences and exercises.
Dictionaries
wordreference.com - Already been mentioned, but usually has good explanations and examples
ru.thefreedictionary.com/ - A Russian-Russian dictionary that usually just gives synonyms, but still okay
slovari.yandex.ru/ - Yandex is pretty much the Russian Google. So yeah.
News
www.bbc.co.uk/russian/ - The BBC news in Russian. Articles usually get translated a few hours or a day after they appear in English.
www.pravda.ru/ - Pravda's still going, and pretty popular.
www.vesti.ru/ - Just a news site
ytro.ru/ - Just another one
lenta.ru/ - And another one
TV
itv.1tv.ru/ - Stream Russia's First Channel
www.1tv.ru/videoarchiver/ - Loads of full and free shows from First Channel's archive
rutracker.org - Download just about anything. Like, anything. In a forum format, so you can browse shows/films/music/comics and download at will.
www.internytv.ru/online.php - Watch Интерны online, it's kinda like a Russian Scrubs. Pretty funny.



JAPANESE
www.polarcloud.com/rikaichan/
It's a firefox module. Indispensable if you don't want to open a dictionary tab for each word you see.
www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/complete
Awesome guide on grammar.
www.nihongoresources.com/
The lessons are very heavy, but it has a dictionary. I use it to learn jouyou kanji!
jisho.org/kanji/
Will find the kanji you're looking for with kana and number of strokes.
fr.wikibooks.org/wiki/Japonais/Grammaire/Introduction
www.dictionnaire-japonais.com/rechercher.php
First one is a succinct grammar guide, second is a dictionary. Sorry it's in french but it can still be useful so I'll post them.
MISC
www.wordreference.com/



SPANISH
www.studyspanish.com/tutorial.htm
Almost everything you need to know on grammar.
www.youtube.com/user/languagenow
This motherfucker is a professional teacher, he will teach you about spanish AND portuguese.
www.spanishdict.com/dictionary
Best dictionary I came across so far, it contains a lot of idioms.
www.ctspanish.com/idioms/idioms.htm
www.languagerealm.com/spanish/spanishslang.php
Idioms and idioms and some slang.



PERSIAN
http://www.easypersian.net/




GERMAN
http://www.uni.edu/becker/German.html
http://www.uni.edu/becker/German2.html
http://pons.eu/  Translator (better then google)
http://www.prosieben.de/tv/stromberg/episoden-subpage/
German version of The Office
http://deutschkurse.dw-world.de/




FRENCH
http://www.leconjugueur.com/frconjonline.php
Even if already conjugated, just type the verb you're looking for to know all it's secrets.



NORWEGIAN
http://www.frathwiki.com/Norwegian
Contains basic grammar of norwegian if you want to taste the water.



KOREAN
www.learnkoreanlanguage.com - General lessons and hangul for beginners
talktomeinkorean.com/ - Lessons and culture from beginner to advanced
www.learnkorean.com/ - More general lessons, good for beginners






FINNISH
www.digitaldialects.com/Finnish.htm
www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/Finnish.html
website full of useful links




MANDARIN CHINESE
nciku.com
www.youtube.com/user/ShermerIL
Chinese lessons.
www.chinasprout.com/ - Amazing store with tons of textbooks, games etc for learning chinese language. Most books have the option to choose between simplified and traditional
characters as well. If you need to order a chinese textbook, I recommend buying from here.
www.chinese4kids.net/ - Good site, has cartoons, lessons and activities. Aimed at kids, but it's suitable for beginners as well.



ICELANDIC 
icelandiconline.is/
Great website that goes over the basics, and is generally a great resource for learning the language. Some institutes have adopted it as an acceptable prerequisite for more
advanced courses, and it is also helpful with Old Norse.
Other useful Icelandic links;
digicoll.library.wisc.edu/IcelOnline/Search.TEId.html
>Free online Icelandic dictionary. You tend to search by headwords, but it can check the entire entry as well, which is useful for common phrases with particular
declensions
bin.arnastofnun.is/
>Free declension database. Put in the word you want, select the box marked "Leit að beygingarmynd" so that it searches the entire entry in case you're trying to figure out
the head-word, and then go. You need to know the category, and it's only in Icelandic (learn that vocabulary!), but it's useful.
I also have an Old Norse textbook on my computer, but it's a terrible, terrible book, and I've only used it because it gets you reading texts quickly.
Hope this shit helps out anyone looking into Icelandic. Very good language to get into, and it really forces you to think about what you're saying.



GENERAL RESOURCES

**General Extensions for Google Chrome:
Polyglot: Automatically translates random words on websites you're surfing to your selected language. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/plpjkjplknknmhfhkjgcfgofclmlnine

I2Type: Pop-down keyboard for most any language.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ohpiacnomiacdnhcfalghggiankgknak

***Social Resources
http://conversationexchange.com/: Meet people to be penpals and talk in e-mail or msn/skpe

http://www.interpals.net/account.php: Same thing but quite myspace-ish.

**General sites
http://a4esl.org/: Lots of esl stuff, and lots of stuff for many languages, I use it for the Thai vocab quizzes.

Viki.com: Tons of TV shows and movies subtitled by member of the site- helps with exposure I think.

And that's it. For Thai specifically there's not much I've found at the intermediate level. But besides skyping with penpals I go to:

Thai2English.com -decent dictionary
Sanook.com - Thai news site, simple quite easy to translate
thairath.co.th: Probably the most professional Thai news site on there. Good luck.


mandarintools.com
ninhao.com