Sucks to Be You

You know your life's gonna suck when you get jailed for 20 years for smuggling pot, when bombing innocent civlians only gets you 30 months

Clearer Picture of Crap

Clearer pictures expected when MediaCorp switches to High Definition TV

"Because of the clarity, our props will also have to be better, you can't have a simple touch up on the props, you have to have much better props and the make up probably have to pay more attention to it, so that the newscasters look better for example."

What about increasing the quality of your shows, Mediacorp?

• For the last time, I am sick and tired of watching for the upteen times, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"-like makeover shows on Ch8 and the rubbish My Sassy Neighbour and Phua Chu Kang sitcoms, and crap variety shows copied wholesale from Taiwanese shows.

• For the last time, I don't want to see a love-triangle/rectangle sub-plot in any of your channel8 drama serials. Every serial, confirm got something like this.

• For the last time, I don't want to see Fiona Xie on TV acting cute.

• For the last time, I dont' want to see Mediacorp giving prizes to itself.

• For the last time, I don't want to see Mediacorp to pretend like Diana Ser has made the biggest freaking discovery/scoop of the year, in the 'Get Real' Show. Girls holding hands on the street? Bah. This is crap investigative journalism.
  

• I don't want your freaking newscasters to look better, I want better coverage of the news, not late-breaking news.
  

"MediaCorp will also have to go through its own upgrading for HDTV.That means getting new cameras, editing facilities and of course more training"

Ok lah, just increase my TV licence fee lah. Don't even bother making up excuses next time.

Do Not Argue On The Net

If you want to defame/slander anyone, do not do it to someone who can sue you, and also, most importantly, someone that won't kill you.

Arguments on Internet message boards are nothing new, and often are a central component. But in San Diego, California an argument turned deadly on 25 May 2005, resulting in two murders, and two other attempted homicides.

That is not the weird part. The online forum has since deleted the forum thread that caused the murder. A new thread is started to discuss the murder. And guess what, the murderer posted a message.

"That fucker had it coming to him. I can't tell you where I am, but I can tell you I love free wireless internet. I know some of you like those fools, but they were trying to front and I can't let that lie. If anyone sees my brother, let him know that band practice is cancelled."


via metafilter

Victim's Blog Entry gives Clues to Murderer's Identity.

Real Story:

A doomed Queens man's chilling computer entry led cops to a suspect who allegedly robbed and killed the victim and his sister to finance a return to China, police said yesterday.

Murder Victim writes a blog entry (identifying his murderer) before getting killed.

The blog: click here
The Victim's home page: click here


Man...This is fucked up.

Steven Lim Update

Our favourite actor wannabe has outdone himself this time.

Watch his directorial debut - a hilarious Aids-prevention video

The road to directing your own movie is long and arduous, you can get investigated for making a documentry, your fruits of labour can get pirated online, or you can get laughed at, for making crap like this.


Maybe the girl is strangling Steven...

Brief Synopsis:

Steven (wearing a stupid combination of tie and singlet) : This is the business proposal, here look.

Girl: Actually Steven, I have seen all your shows, You look cute...

Steven: Actually, I'm just a nobody.

Girl: Lets have some fun, Steven..

Steven: I don't want to have AIDS.....Argghh NO..........!!!

Go to his site: Stevenlim.net -> click on the first picture on the far right, as you scroll down (picture of Steven and an asian girl) to download.

Stating the Obvious

Just Stating the Obvious:

• The Government want your money to run their ideas.

• When you want to promote your product, give it away free. Thousands of Singaporeans will rush and even waste their lunch hour queuing up to get it. Some don't even know what they're queuing for.

• When you bring in an interesting and original product, hundreds of unoriginal Singaporeans suddenly have the same business idea as you.

• You realise that there are really no unique food stall business in Singapore, when every food court definately have a chicken rice stall and a fish ball noodle stall. All the same.

• Tired of slaving away in a 9-to-5 job for a pittance like thousands of other Singaporeans, You decide to be 'creative', and operate a push-cart business, like hundreds of similarly 'creative' Singaporeans and their push-cart stalls in the heartland malls, selling the same crap. (soft-toys, watches, bikini etc).

• The most well known Singapore company, Creative, is probably the one of the least creative Mp3 player maker in the world.
  

• If you can't do it, teach it. There's always money to be made somewhere.

• You know a blogger is clutching at straws, content and language wise, when he writes in point form.

• You know a Newspaper is clutching at straws, content wise, when Maia Lee is their new columnist, and that an article about how a deceased ex-president's pet misses its master, can become a half page story (on page 3) in Straits Times. Touching yes, news-worthly? Not really.
  

Hub, What Hub?

You know your business model is flawed when the bulk of your customers come from abroad. Who knows when will the well run dry?

Eric Wang left Shenzhen for Singapore about a year ago to further his studies, but at times, he wished he had not.

When China joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001, it had to relax protectionist measures on its domestic education market.

Since then, foreign schools from the United States, United Kingdom and Australia have been setting up campuses there, competing head-on with private schools in Singapore for Chinese students.

Singapore's "Education Hub" strategy is to attract students overseas, especially from China and India to study here.

It is like running a business with your rival manning and controlling your door. You have no control over the flow of your customers. That is what you get when you fail to develop your domestic market.

So will this happen to our 'Medical Hub' strategy? or our 'Casino' strategy.

Medical Hub

Admits Tan of Parkway group: "Prices in Thailand are substantially cheaper than in Singapore." But she declares defiantly, "Singapore is where people come for the best medical care in Asia — no matter what the price."

People are choosing Thailand over Singapore for lasik and other surgery.

Yeah, people come regardless of price to Singapore. You know what type of people?

Arabs with rich with oil money. But will this strategy sustian?

Thailand is not exactly a country with third-world standard hospitals. It is considered as good as ours. It's a matter of time before the Arab medical tourist flock to another cheaper country.

Casino

Even before the casino is built, we are already thinking of ways to stop Singaporeans from coming into the Casino. That is not a good business strategy.

For all other hubs Singapore is planning, we may see the repeat of what happened to our 'Education Hub'.

A New Milestone

This Site has reached a new milestone in its short existence.

#1 ranking in search for "Singaporean Porn" in Yahoo.

Wow, am I proud or what. Another reason to use Google.

Things I've Learnt Today

Day to Day, I learn something new. Did you know that:

• If ever you become important enough to get interviewed by our nation-building press, always record the interview, or request for a email interview.

• You can say "Singapore boys are whiny" in the press and you're made to sound like a freakin' visonary, but if you say NUS science girls not chio, you get so much flames, you close down your blog.
  

• You sometimes get horribly misquoted, and people read, get angry and you kena slammed.

For Ms Wendy Cheng, 21, who runs xiaxue.blogspot.com, it's a matter of common sense."I have named and put up pictures of people (for criticism), but that's because I know they won't sue me," she said. "Naming or taking on an organisation would probably be foolhardy."

• If ever you want to criticise anyone, choose a target whom you know "won't sue you". In short, choose a weak target. Choose a target that can't hit back
  

• Same as above. Just like when you are going to sue someone for defaming/slandering you, you'll probably win if your target cannot ill afford the trouble or the lawyers. In short, better for you to choose a weak target.
  

• You always come out smelling like roses as long as you have the press/PR department/law firm behind you.

• You can appear benevolent and merciful as long as you threaten to sue, and in the end don't sue.
  

A Public Service Announcement

You're on camera. Say 'cheeeat' !

If you are a abject slacker like me, you are prone to stumble across "get rich quick" scams on the net. Apart from the run-of-the-mill nigerian scams, penis enlargement scams, here's a few common schemes on the net that 'make you money':

Autosurf for cash

Basically, an auto-sufer rotates webpages on your browser. After surfing 40 pages after 40 days, you get paid like US$8. You can cash out, or re-invest the money and continue to surf. After another 40 days, you get double the amount.

Examples: www.4daily.com

HYIP (High Yield Investment Program)

You put in a minimum amount, ie US$50. These plan 'promises' a return of 4% of your principal amount daily. Yes, every day. Utter bullshit, even Warren Buffet do not promise such returns.

Examples: Prime Fund

The problem with me, apart from being a cynic when it comes to such schemes, is that I am such a slacker that I'm too lazy even to surf 40 pages every day for 40 days.

So please, get off your lazy ass and work. There is no free Money. If not, stay on your lazy ass, but don't join these schemes.

If only I can take my own advice. That'll be great.

Jumping on the Blog-wagon

Ok, so the New Paper has a blog, a crap excuse for a blog. It's even worse than mine, so its really shite.

Before you say enough is enough, now MIW have a blog.

How nice, I am sure the blog entries will be no-holds-barred, un-edited/uncensored insights into the NS life. Then I realised I was dreaming.



Take a read at the (un)exciting posts

My ICT
My Days in NS
New Sar 21

One can conjure up the image on a NS clerk being asked by his superiors to churn out posts after posts, week after week, as one of his duties. But I may be wrong, but who is allowed to post on this blog? Anyone?

Compare the MIW blog with this.

Now thats an interesting read.

Another Sign that you're in trouble because of your Blog

• You write a post on how NUS have so little chiobu(s), and it was posted on tommorrow.sg. Then you kena a whole lot of flames in your comments and you have to shut down your blog.
  

Some Signs that you're in trouble because of your Blog

Some Signs that you're in trouble because of your Blog:

• When your posts tackle more serious issues than Xiaxue.

• When Channelnewsasia journalists do not even bother to write a balanced article about you when writing about your legal problems with A*. What about your side of the story? No one at Channelnewsasia cares.
  

• When Channelnewsasia journalists don't even bother to find out write your school and course of study. You suddenly downgrade to a 'Masters student' in the news when you are acutally a Phd Student.

• When you are an ex-scholar commenting about your ex-scholarship organization.

• But not when you are a scholar and write racist views in your 'private' weblog. You just get a warning from PSC.
  

• When you recieve a total of 11 angry emails over 3 days from the chairman of the government organization telling you to remove all posts in your Blog.

• When you are in US and during your busy exam period, and you have till May 8 to respond or fly all the way to Singapore to have tea to "clear the air". where's the "Star Trek Teleporter" when you need one?

• When New Paper devotes 3 Full pages on the head of the organization that sued you, calling him 'white knight/black knight' with nary a mention on your side of the story or even the case at all . The Public Relations people are working doubly hard, i can see.

• When you heeded the call by Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan and MM Lee to give honest opinions to public policy/government. And then you get sued. Maybe its a better/safer idea to write about topics like getting your cab snatched or important stuff like that.
  

• When writing a blog gets you sued while other people's blog get them T-shirt endorsements deals and get them featured on Mainstream Media.
  

• When Singapore's biggest bloggers would rather talk about the fact that tomorrow.sg posted your story 2 weeks earlier compared to CNA , rather than actually commenting on your legal problems. Woohoo. We are teh coolness, we are faster than mainstream media!

#edited with new content.

AcidFlask's Side of the Story

I waited to post about the AcidFlask debacle until i could read two sides of the story, from both A* and AcidFlask himself.

It's strange that a scholar can get off by posting racist remarks (only getting a slap on the wrist) while an ex-scholar is threatened to get sued by posting his honest views on a government organization. Does anyone not realise how this two cases are handled so differently?

Ok, so expressing your dislike for a entire ethnic group in your blog is somehow okay , but when you write your views on an organization funded by tax dollars, it's a big no-no?

It is also strange that A* would want AcidFlask to remove 'remove all posts which mentioned either him or A*STAR, whether directly or indirectly'. If a particular post is so offending, why not just ask AcidFlask to remove the post, say sorry, and life goes on?

And If A* is so convinced the AcidFlask's post/or posts are demamatory, why not make it public, and state which parts of it are utter lies? Convince everyone. Discredit AcidFlask, if he truely deserves it.

This really makes me think twice about posting on Government entities. Maybe I should just post more infantile posts.

Other noteworthy links on this issue:

Singapore Ink
Wannabe Lawyer

If you can't beat them, copy them

Creative is now selling a screenless, flash-based mp3 player.


iPod Shuffle (Pasar Malam Version), anyone?

After the boasting, the US100 million dollars advertising budget, This is just tragic.

Podcasts I've been listening to

Mr Brown is the only local podcast I know. Its funny, but listening to 3 guys talking with no topic in particular, is really not my thing. Mr Brown, you seriously need to stick to a few topics per podcast, and try not to cut off your podcast abruptly in the end. But Mr Brown podcast will only get better, I can be sure of it.

In anycase, the following is a rougues gallery of my favourites:

Daily Source Code
Dawn and Drew Show
Keith and the Girl
Yeast Radio
Digital Floatsam
Jump Cut radio

Not a favourite, but I'll put a link here, for kicks.
Paris Hilton Podcast

Famous Last Words

Sim Wong Hoo on the iPod Shuffle :

"Even the cheap, cheap Chinese brand today has display and has FM. They don’t have this kind of thing, and they expect to come out with a fight; I think it’s a non-starter to begin with."

"A report by market research firm NPD concludes that Apple’s iPod shuffle has gobbled up a full 58.2% of the US market for flash-based MP3 players in March, up from 43% in February (the bulk of Apple’s sales were for the 512MB version of the shuffle)."

What else you have to say? Mr Sim ?