Gadgit

Moving to VOX

2007-02-14T22:56:00.000+08:00

I'll be making the move to 'VOX' as the 'new blogger', that is reputedly out of 'beta', is, well, a load of bollocks. I won't get into details here with regards to the reasons for this move. But for now, my 'hmmms' may be accessed at the belowmentioned site. You'll have to register if you want to post comments i'm afraid. Talk about 'nationalising' bloggers via these relatively exclusive sites. tch!

ed-infinitum

gadgit.vox.com

Ma Don't Laaa

2007-02-09T13:18:00.000+08:00

“Madonna's record breaking Confessions Tour filmed at London's Wembley Arena during her worldwide sold-out 25-city run in 2006 has been banned in Singapore for her performance on a massive neon cross in a mock-crucifixion.”

fridae

Photograph modified by Gadgit

I don't see why it ought to be banned because of the 'mock crucifixion' scene (personally, I don’t think much of this ‘artiste’ with her superficial lyrics and simply arranged ‘music’ which is no more than an accompaniment to primitive sexuality and attempts to pander to an insignificant people seeking significance vicariously). After all, though the crucifix was popularised by Jesus' crucifixion, it was a common enough tool for retribution in Roman times. Perhaps, the bimbette was trying to emulate one of the thieves crucified on either side of the Christ – but I suppose it takes more than a ‘singaporean’ to realise that. We ought not to allow the Christ to monopolise the cross where others besides Him especially since others too were afforded this dire conduit to the next life by the Romans.

However,

the meaning and usage of symbols is not independent of the common perception of it. The user of a particular symbol, unless s/he is unaware of its common association, or makes it clear that it is being utilised with an alternative meaning, is guilty of misrepresenting, falsely associating, or compromising the integrity and sacredness of its associated value. Hence, I would inquire after Madonna’s intentions before supporting any such ban.

Banning this and that..

…may be seen as little more than an effort to either show the people ‘who's boss’ and thus train them in the art of submission, or, indicative of deficiencies in general logical abilities by the banning party, or, indicative of a logically-disabled people who have trained the banning party to do as they please when they please with little thought by their being unable to offer consistent and logic-based opposition.

With rights come responsibilities. But, we would be well advised to keep in mind, that taking up the right responsibilities have historically been proven to be the harbinger of more rights. To allow one’s development to be dictated by the mores, requirements and solely take on the expected ‘responsibilities’ of a particular system is to simultaneously cause the disabling of the imaginative and creative faculties required to improve it.

on Beauties and Bimbettes

2007-02-08T11:20:00.000+08:00

beauty or bimbette?

The aforepictured has been included in the ‘top 10 most beautiful bloggers’ list, or something to that effect, by ‘Gizmodo’ - a foreign ‘tech’ site – well, one cannot expect to much from ‘techies’, by way of perspectival intelligence, I suppose.

I suppose it take a greater mind to confuse ‘beauty’ with ‘personality’ – intelligence, humanity, wisdom, sensuality, spirituality, and basically all that illustrates the different facets of the human persona. (in this sense, xia xue and others of her ilk are little more than bimbettes who are deemed 'beautiful' by equally decrepit perspectival retards comprising a significant proportion of the masses.) When one develops beyond the miniscule limits imposed by this ‘modern’/americanised experience of reality, one would reach a realm where one, putting it in terms which the simple-minded folk, aka ‘singaporeans’, would understand, would fail to get ‘turned on’ unless the individual possessed an appreciable degree of the aforementioned qualities.

It, however, takes a lesser mind

...to get ‘turned on’ simply by attributes such as symmetry – between one half of the face and the other – particular and promoted skin tones/body types within a particular space and time. Those whom are susceptible to such ‘preferred’ types have little claim to individuality. They are, if truth be told, little more than impressionable victims of the influences crisscrossing our sensorial and experiential purview within a particular space and/or time.

Just because we started off, evolutionarily speaking, as animals, does not mean that we have to continue along this path – as evidenced by the masses instinctually appreciating particular body types, features or tints…moronic/gizmodic nominations. It is the ability to transcend our current perspectival state via imagination, critical introspection and reflection that distinguishes us from the non-human animal kingdom. Human beings ought not to allow social influences to determine their instinctual content. If so, then they are nothing more than animals with different (programmed/instinctual) tastes. An informed and intelligent ‘preference’ is the result of attempts to transcend the boundaries laid by the accepted influences of any time.

As the saying goes,

*“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” The appreciation of the idea of evolution ought not to be confined to the historical study of humanity. Rather, evolution goes on within each and every one of us. Reaching adulthood is not a validation of the end of evolution within us. In fact, adulthood is the time when we have the potential to engage in open-eyed evolution – that is, we are supposed to be able to increasingly engage in intelligent critique and critical introspection. That is when we are supposed to be able to distinguish the good from the bad without and within, or at least make more informed, intelligent and objective attempts to do so. That is when we are supposed to reevaluate the sense of all that we have learnt to appreciate – despite our being able to hold down a job and earn wads of money(most people tend to think that this latter ability is a validation of their having become ‘mature’ adults. The truth of the matter is that all they have achieved is ‘use-value’ which is just one component of ‘human value’.) Thus, in my adulthood, I question after sense of my sensibilities rather than see my adulthood as a validation of the said sensibilities. It is this that validates my adulthood and maturity.

Maturity is not a state of knowing.
It is a state of knowing that all that is known to be fact may be fictional.

Just because there aren’t any awards

...for ‘top ten most insightful/wise/intelligent/humanitarian/etc blogger’ does not mean that such aspirations are not more worthy of mass appreciation. Cretinous individuals/institutions that promote ‘most beautiful blogger awards’ via the narrow criteria of physical features or pop/ular appeal simply diminish human potentials, evolutionarily speaking, by detracting mass attention from the significant to the trivial.

ed-infinitum
- a singaporean in locality, not personality.

*Corinthians chapter 13, verse 11

singapore malaysia philippines india hong kong uk sociology psychology

The Passion of the Indian(ised) Mind

2007-02-08T10:23:00.000+08:00

The truth of the matter is, when Indians - given the advantage their historically critical, introspective, ever-changing, perspectivally-multifarious and multi-faceted culture endows its practitioners - are located in non-discriminatory and truly multicultural conditions without any one culture or its practitioners being purposefully afforded greater social prominence, or marginalised on the basis of the archaic notion of 'race', they will progress to be that which their culture trains them to be - highly intelligent, innovative, creative and vibrant.

This is the legacy of their culture and which is embedded in a myriad and multitude of ways within their cultural practices and perspectives. It would not be untrue to say that 'to be Indian is to not be Indian'. That simply means that the Indian, historically, has never 'enjoyed' the luxury of a static state of affairs due to the constant cultural upheavels that is a feature of Indian history. Thus, the Indian mind has never had the opportunity to rest and enjoy things today the way it has 'always been'. Thus, its critical hyperactivity along with its ability to accept that which is novel and embrace the non-traditional. We can say that Indian culture is dialectical and is in constant flux because of historical conditions that never allowed it to be otherwise. Thus, many components of this culture, via its myths, rituals, perspectives, cuisine, etc, embody this.

But such a legacy is laid waste given inoptimum conditions. This is when positive potentials that may be leftover from their familial experience is channelled down less positive or progressive paths. Thus, Indian passion and vibrance, amongst those occupying lower economic strata, frequently sees it being translated to aggressive tendencies while these very propensities are translated, given optimum conditions, into innovative, insightful and creative produce. Such is also the case given the temperament of children. Some of them are endowed with a more 'hyperactive' temperament. Given optimum conditions and equal access to resources and advantages within a caring environment, this can lead to much vibrance in the right arena. Inoptimum conditions, inversely, may just see such vibrancy being directed down the delinquent path.

When this is considered, it is only to be expected that India has become the brains of Asia and a mainstay behind that of the west - though it may also be argued that Indians becoming prominent in the vaunted fields of today does not do their culturally-trained propensities justice. They are capable of much more. Additionally, its cultural advantage is also that which once produced the likes of the Mahatma (Gandhi).

(one of the main contributory factors behind Indian passion, vibrancy and critical intelligence is the relative conceptual and cultural instability - due to invasions and intercourse with intelligent cultures, failure of emperors to form a state like, for example, China; the non-centralisation of education; the prominence of independent philosophers; etc.)

For an example of close-to-optimum conditions, the reader might want to peruse the following BBC article,

Sea-Change in UK-India Relations

malaysia singapore india uk hong kong philipines culture

Ah-sian Cup

2007-02-05T13:23:00.000+08:00

Seems that there has been much hue and cry over ‘Singapore’ winning the ASEAN Cup - I personally heard much cheering from my window last night and wondered if the mee pok shop at a nearby KopiTiam had decided to up the ante against the other shops by throwing in an additional fishball for orders. To illustrate,

“YAY!!! WE WON IT. YES. YES. YES!”

the above ejaculatory excerpt taken from mornizstar

"hmmm..."

No you didn't. The TEAM won. You are just trying to claim credit for their victory simply because you gals/guys relieve yourself within the same geographical locality. Methinks these sad people ought to try to claim credit for what THEY personally do and not attempt to vicariously claim credit by dipping their respective pinkies into the beam cast on another. If you are going to claim credit because they are 'singaporeans', then all men in the world can claim credit because those in team are 'men', or all people in the world sharing approximately the same height, length of hair, features, tint, etc, as those in the team could also claim credit. So, if one was to think about it a tad bit further than that which the all too average singaporean is accustommed to, one would realise that the appropriate and intelligent response to ‘singapore’ winning the ASEAN Cup would be,

“THEY Won it. Yes. Yes. Yes!”

In which case – because of the substitution of ‘we’ with 'they' – one would inevitably be led to wonder why we are making such a fuss over another’s victory - "Oi! They win what. Why you so happy?!"

Such abject idiocy. Ah sian man.

singapore malaysia india hong kong football sociology psychology

Vid on Vista

2007-02-04T19:56:00.000+08:00

Well, the hullaballoo has started over Window's 'Vista'.

I suppose when we are located in an age where people create a fuss about anything only when they are 'trends', and simply because they are 'trends' as opposed to these 'trends' being worthy of being 'trends', 'Windows Vista' would feature quite highly on blogger 'tag' ratings (ref. technorati). I dare say that it would not be untrue to state that the 'trendy' are those who have the least amount of individualism and thus depend on the 'latest' or 'trends' to feed their feelings of self-worth. I always thought that 'style' was supposed to be an extension of the substance within, as opposed to it disguising the void within.

Anyway,

those of you who want to know what this 'vista' thing is all about, either because you are one of those mindless reflections of trends; because you are curious by nature; or because you want to know what's tickling society's fancies at the moment in order to understand its current state of mind, follow the links that follow to view a short video on the Vista (courtesy of bbc's 'click')

*

play via realplayer

tip: I personally use realplayer to play videos from 'click'. All one has to do to watch it is to click the above link, wait for the video to start playing on realplayer, and then immediately press 'pause'. The video will be downloaded - as can be witnessed by the extending line beside the 'play' button(this line can be best viewed when the player is maximised) - and once the 'line' extends to the end, it can be played without 'stutters' while giving the viewer the freedom to fast-forward, rewind, or watch it all over again.

play via windows media

video windows vista malaysia singapore india hong kong vista

Customer Disservice in Singapore

2007-02-03T10:13:00.000+08:00

I had written to a local bicycle accessories distributor (sportsbilt.com) for some information regarding a particular product. The response, I must say, was exemplary.

1.
Hello Adrian,

I would like to know if you entertain members of the public or do you just deal with retailers. I would like to purchase a helmet for personal use and understand that you carry a wide stock. If you do entertain members of the public, what would be your opening and closing times? Am looking for a 'bell ghisallo(black/grey) though I would like to view other designs as well.

appreciate your advice,

Ed

2.
Greetings Ed,

Yes, we do entertain walk-in customers.
Our operating hours are from 9am to 5am. We are off on weekends. Please give us a call before you proceed as we might be out of office due to delivery, entertaining of foriegn dealers, lunch etc.
You are looking at Bell Ghisallo Black Carbon. At the moment, I have 3 medium size in stock.
We are the sole distributor for Bell, GIRO, SixSixOne, Troy Lee Design, Finish Line, White Lightning, SweatGUTR, RAVX and one of the distributors for FOX servicing Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand...
If you are interested in any products of the above-mentioned models, you can approach us.
Please note that we are operating as a distributor and therefore, we do not have any NETS/Credit Cards service. We only accept cash.

Thanks & Regards

Adrian Teng

3.
Hello Adrian,

Thank you for your prompt and most instructive response. Hope I will be able to find the time to visit your site in the near future as the 9-5 hours make it quite difficult. Will certainly try. I will, as advised, give yourself a tinkle prior to my visit.

Best regards and have a great day,

Ed

4.
Greetings Ed,

Once in a blue blue moon, I do come back to office to settle some paper work or to clear up the store during the weekends. You can e-mail me or SMS me on Friday to see if I am coming back on the weekends.

Thanks and Regards,

Adrian Teng

end~

Thoughts...

Most companies here (in singapore) thoughtlessly spout out ‘off-the-rack’ responses and do not adequately, if at all, entertain queries that do not have such ready-made responses available within forearm’s length. In other words, ask a question which most people don’t, and you can expect no response, or a simple, “It’s company policy”, or “that’s the way our company operates” – which is synonymous with, “Aiyah, it’s like that one laa/lorr/lei”. Only those questions that most ask are entertained.

These so-called ‘customer-care officers’(yeah right!) tend to reflexively ignore anything that requires thought on their part. The ‘consumer’ is indeed treated as nothing but a mindless ‘consumer’ and not as a human being whose particular concerns require listening to or thoughtful digestion. Thus, as assumed 'mindless consumers', they are accorded the treatment such mindlessness is perceived to deserve - mindless customer care. One robot serving another robot.

All people are treated as one homogenous consumeristic mass. By this, we are implicitly told that we as individuals ought not to concern ourselves with that which other consumers are not concerned with, or that which the company does not deem worthy of consideration as it does not translate to immediate profit. We are told to think, feel and act as others do and, “Aiyahhh, don’t think so much laaa”, or “Wahh, think so much and ask so many questions for whaaaat!”. By 'thinking', 'feeling' and 'acting' as others do simply because others are doing it basically reduces it to not thinking, feeling and acting as individuals but doing without thinking what everyone else is. It is via such an approach that the individuals comprising society are, over time, homogenised into little more than a singular blob of mindless consumers - which is one of the elements comprising the core of 'singaporean' identity, and one which I deign to accept without a disclaimer, i.e. "singaporean in locality, NOT personality".

This, however,

was not the case in my exchange with ‘Sportsbilt’(sportsbilt.com). Not only were all queries answered, the delivery and content were also polite, informative, prompt, and most importantly, anticipated my personal difficulties. Empathetic effort was also tailor-made to take into consideration my difficulties in visiting the said outlet during normal operating hours and a further response by Sportsbilt, via the helpful and empathetic, ‘Adrian Teng’, followed. In this, it was impressed upon myself that I was not merely a ‘consumer’, but an individual whose personal concerns were worthy of consideration. Such a response validates the human within us as opposed to that of the unthinking ‘consumer’. We are not seen as merely money-making opportunities but people of individual self-worth as opposed to self-worth being derived from mindless conformity to the masses. When the human being is constantly treated in such a positive manner, the self is validated and individuals will tend not to discount their own personal ideas and feelings. This will feed their overall sense of self-worth and self-efficacy, and, in turn, fill the motivational reservoir within us that, again, in turn, feeds our artistic, creative and intellectual propensities and potentials - in other words, we become more, amongst others, 'british' or 'indian'.

Other local companies..

...would be well-advised to take the aforementioned into consideration in their dealings with members of the public. It is the way they are treated that determines their future development. When people take bad service, or service that does not appreciate their individual selves, as the norm, they become lesser people. In other words, as the field for the expression of the self is contracted, so is the self likewise contracted - it is a dynamic relationship. And as lesser people, not only are lesser expectations placed on themselves as human beings, fewer expectations are placed on companies. This, in turn lowers the developmental standard of companies and their overall empathetic performance which is important when it comes to the development of their innovative and creative potentials.

At the heart of innovation and creativity...

..lies the motivational force of empathy and meticulous attention to detail. This is practiced mostly when it comes to the general ability to take into consideration that which one is not accustomed to. In this, amongst others, lies the potential of human progress. The relationship between an individual and service provider is dynamic. The increased and individual expectations placed on companies, and the validation of these individual expectations and concerns by the companies paying attention to them practices them in paying attention to detail and enhances empathetic potential. This will lead to innovation and creativity which the individual benefits from and which in turn develops her/his potentials further. This in turn leads to increased expectations and more profound concerns which in turn lead to increased demands on the company. This is how the spiral of progress is effected.

It is how we are appreciated that determines how we appreciate (increase in value).

malaysia singapore india hong kong psychology sociology

ConnectMeAnywhere but in Singapore

2007-01-16T12:56:00.000+08:00

The following email exchange took place between myself and a UK company called ‘connectmeanywhere’ that enables one to make skype-like calls via mobile phones with significant reductions in international call charges. I had written to them and asked if they could set up registration for singaporeans as they were at the time only offering the said services for Europe.

Hi Ed,

We are setting up Singapore for registration and I wondered if you could help me with a question we have. How much is it to call a local landline number in Singapore? - is it charged per minute or is it a set cost per call.
Thanks; if you could help that would be great. Hope to have Singapore online asap.

Regards,
Belinda
CMA Support
*

Hi Ed,

I am happy to let you know that ConnectMeAnywhere is now available for registration in Singapore.
All new users get 25 cents of credit to test the system and we have a new product called V-Mail.
With V-Mail you can sent a voice email from any phone (registered with your account) and it sends your message as an MP3 to your contacts email address - any phone can use this, it does not have to be email enabled.
This service is free from CMA (although you have to pay to connect to the local number in Singapore)

Give it a try and let me know what you think. Thanks again for the information on the telephony providers it was very helpful.

If you create an account let me know your username so I can give you some extra credit and you can write a fabulous review! ;-)

Kind Regards,
Belinda
CMA Support
*

Hi Belinda,

I tried to register at your site but found that 'singapore' was not listed in the country menu. Advice? Let me know regarding the aforementioned soonest - and before christmas since it is a time when people are generally more amenable to novel ideas due to the positive affect induced by the season.

Regards,
ed
*

Hi Ed,

Sorry I have been on Holiday so only just received your email. Unfortunately our Singapore service was halted by the regulatory body in Singapore, which forced us to disconnect all our Singapore numbers. We attempted to have them reconnected but to no avail and have had to remove Singapore from our list of countries and refund our Singapore users. I will certainly let you know if this changes and we can connect again, sorry for the bad news but thank you very much for the support you have offered us.

Kind Regards,
Belinda
CMA Support

*

Well, so much for that. I’ll leave you to come to your own conclusions.

connectmeanywhere

malaysia singapore india hong kong philipines skype internet cma connectmeanywhere uk

Comment on Wee Shu Min and etc

2007-01-11T14:07:00.000+08:00

I came across a CNN article on income disparity in Singapore. Some thoughts...

"When Wee Shu Min, the teenage daughter of a Singapore member of parliament stumbled across the blog of a Singaporean who wrote that he was worried about losing his job, she thought she'd give him a piece of her mind.

She called him "one of many wretched, undermotivated, overassuming leeches in our country" on her own blog and signed off with "please, get out of my elite uncaring face".

What WSM - or , Woman of Shallow Mind - has obviously failed to consider is that 'undermotivation' is just one of the many causes of job loss. There are also a host of other factors such as bigotry and the lack of the requisite cultural and financial resources that disables many from occupying that comfortable position which WSM has obviously taken as a natural and self-acquired right. She obviously is low in empathy, ill-educated in sociological and psychological realities and, well, lacks the essentials of basic humanity. WSM ought to keep in mind that for every motivated person who 'makes it', there are thousands, if not millions more, motivated persons who did not. It is the sign of an intelligent mind where one is led to query after the causes of the latter.

From a sociological perspective, motivation, within a class-based system, can go as far as it can go in improving a person's lot in life - provided it leaves the class-based system intact. That simply means that the system has an in-built protective function - effected via a myriad of psychological, social and institutional means - that ensures that there will always be enough people to maintain the (im)balance.

People like WSM further validate the perspective that the ability to 'blog' is not evidence of intelligence. It is the content that we have to look at. The quality of an opinion, the likes of WSM ought to be reminded, is not derived from the ability to forward an opinion, but the ability to logically justify it.

Another myth that this incident helps in dispelling is that of the 'first class' status of singapore's education system. Yes, the people here might get great marks in maths, etc. But besides proving that they are good at memorising formulas whilst exhibiting a modicum of analytical ability in a specific area, it illustrates little else. Since there really isn't a test here for generic analytical intelligence other than those tested for in specific areas, we cannot say that singapore has a state of the art education system, or, that the minds that it churns out is 'state of the art'. I, personally, have met 19 year olds of average intelligence in the UK who can hold a far more intelligent debate/conversation in areas outside of their field of study, whilst exhibiting knowledge and appreciation of profound sociological and philosophical precepts than people of any age in singapore. Now, they may not get top marks in maths, science, etc, but they are obviously far more intelligent than any person from a 'premium'-level school or University graduate that I've met in singapore. Of course, this would beg the question, 'what then is the purpose of education', or, 'what ought to be the purpose of education'? But that is another matter which i will get into at another time as it goes far beyond the scope of this article.

"We have treated welfare as a dirty word. The opposition, I think the Workers' Party, has called for a 'permanent unconditional needs-based welfare system'. I think that is an even dirtier five words," he(lee kwan yew) said in a speech on November 13.

What the opposition is seeking, I believe, is that the workers are protected against the inevitable consequences that arise from a system which the elite profits immensely and continuously from. In other words, you take from me when times are good, so you must take care of me when times are bad. We expect that from any child in her relationship towards a parent or any beneficiary towards a benefactor. If the child or beneficiary gives in return, we don't say that s/he is good but that s/he is doing her duty for s/he is paying back for what she has received. Should this not be more the case especially where no government is the 'first giver' - unlike a benefactor or a parent - since it is the people who do the giving first? If we consider this point, the people are in fact the 'parents' and the government in question, a grossly ungrateful child who has adopted the convenient belief that the parent is there to be taken advantage of for his own benefit when times are good and left to starve when times are bad.

Finally,

for the information of all, while singapore might rank quite highly when it comes to 'per capita income', the truth of the matter, according to CNN, is, that when income disparity is considered, singapore ranks between Kenya and Burundi.

I always thought that the majority of singaporeans were getting exceedingly poor when compared to the 60s through to the present. The existence of flexible debt repayment schemes only serves to diffuse the impression that we are greatly in debt and that the overall disposal income we might have in a lifetime is significantly lower than the times of our parents and grandparents. But, of course, it requires an increasingly myopic and intellectually docile population to not realise that. I suppose that's 'progress' as far as singapore goes.

malaysia singapore india uk hong kong philipines

Iphone Vid...the Yelamu, IP & the Gadgit

2007-01-10T13:19:00.000+08:00

Well, Steve Jobs has finally revealed the Iphone - a touchscreen, 11.6mm-thin phone - that's supposed to be a break from the conventional push-button phone at MacWorld Expo in San Francisco (once the home of the Yelamu group of the Ohlone People...now the home of, ugh!, 'Americans'..."now where did i put that bugspray?"). It comes in 4 and 8 gig versions and is expected to be made available in the US in June and in Europe later in the year. The phone is supposed to cost between 500 to 600 usd.

Anyway, on an aesthetic and functional note, the iphone does indeed raise the bar with its convenient touch-screen and integration with the ipod, significant eye-room and sleek well-rounded edges that reduce the chances of discomfort/injury in those regions in close proximity to one's hip pocket. These functions are already present in many mobilephones, but the Iphone does a good job in bringing them together - so Iphone has to thank the manufacturers of other phones for these ideas...if it wasn't for them, iphone wouldn't be what it is would it?....there's no such thing as 'invention', only 'innovation'. Of course, Steve Jobs would beg to differ. I had said some time ago that the ipod is doomed unless it goes into the telco business or integrates with existing companies. Looks like Steve Jobs heard such prophetic rumblings and decided to act on, and profit from, the IP of others like myself - just as he did with the design. Good one Stevie Boy!

For all you 'gadgits' out there, I suppose it gives you something to look forward to eh. All of a sudden you have yet another reason to live! Well, congratulations!

"hmmm..."

Methinks 'Techie' isn't a good name for, well, 'techies'. To say one is a 'techie' is to claim some semblance of independent thought for the 'techie'. A 'Gadgit', ahhh, that is more like it. A 'Gadgit' lacks independent thought. A 'Gadgit' is not someone who 'acts on' but one who is 'acted on'. Something like having her key wound before she can start to act 'independently' S/he is basically made to follow trends for the simple reason that it is there to be followed. No question on the intrinsic value of such a pursuit. Not unlike running after the tide as it goes out and running away from it as it comes in. Who, or what, do you think determines the movement of the runner?

bbc

iphone uk malaysia singapore india tech hong kong philipines

Appreciating Films - the Good, the Bad & the Ugly

2007-01-08T16:02:00.000+08:00

This film - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (il Buono, il brutto, il Cattivo) ranks as one of my all time favourite films - besides, The Wall, Purple Rain, 1984, The Doors, and Apocalypse Now.

Unlike contemporary films which focuses on stimulating the senses with a whole plethora of visual effects - that does nothing for the aesthetic aspect of the human intellect - older films generally focus on bringing out the emotional content, the philosophical background, etc, of the story - that in turn prods the development of more profound aspects of the human intellect.

For instance, in the aforepresented scene,

...the viewer is led to gradually taste the emotions, fears, and sensibilities of the three actors by the camera focusing first on their faces and expressions, which in turn exhibits the contrasting human emotions of fear and uncertainty; calm and composure; and viciousness and arrogance. We are then focused on the seemingly insignificant and inconspicuous tools via which these contradictory emotions will find their relief - their individual guns - which amplifies the tragedy awaiting the desires that has brought them together, and which is resolved via such unceremonious means. The contasting insignificance of the guns to the other aspects of the scene, such as the great expanse of sky, mountains, the graves, the scene, and even the actors' own persons mirrors the insignificance attributed to life in the face of greed and lust as it takes little more than a proportionately insignificant gun to end life and resolve the ambitions of the men assembled.

As the scene builds up to the final shootout, we see a closer focus on the eyes of the actors that focuses us and reduces this scene to one that is purely of an impending clash between emotions without the irrelevant exposition of their entire faces. This is complemented by the speeding up of the camera's respective focus on the individuals which in turn instigates an appreciation of the senselessness of the whole venture as one is taken to the brink of life and is made to stare into an abyss that is soon to welcome, perhaps, two more souls. And with this final acceleration of the camera's focus, these accumulation of these different thoughts and feelings orchestrated within ourselves by the above, feed and amplify the sense of expectation, anticipation and anxiety. And all this without the flash!-bang!-fwar! hollywood style visual effects.

At times, the viewer is presented the entire scene with the 3 actors, in the style of zen paintings, being cast as insignificant beings in a wider philosophical context illustrated and symbolised by graves in the background, and the wide expanse of sky and distant mountains within which the human drama of greed, lust and doom takes place. One is told, via such a scene, that this is how such evil ventures end(via the grave backdrop - pun intended), along with the futility of such ventures as wealth is something we cannot take to the grave. This is further amplified by the circle within which the final shootout takes place that brings out the coliseum-like feel of the scene with the surrounding graves serving as 'spectators' of a duel which humanity thrusts itself into time and again -a duel which they, the 'spectators', were once themselves a part. They sit, watching in deathly silence as this tragic drama is once again enacted. As if to further reinforce the vanity of the whole event, the shootout takes place on dry, barren and broken ground devoid of life. But, again, we are presented with a wider backdrop of sky and mountains that tells us that there is more to life than just this. And yet, the self-serving obstinacy of humanity blinds it from appreciating this as the actors seem ignorant of this and focus on their dire ambitions.

The above meanings are attributed by the instigation of my own perspectives of life, but the important point here is that such films provide us the interpretational space to make such attributions as opposed to the films of today which is devoid of such 'interpretational space' and which thus can be likened to little more than a quick fix via the end of a straw.

Self-development is a dynamic thing.

We expose ourselves to the good stuff, refrain from the bad stuff, so that we can get more from more exposition to the good stuff, and, in turn, know what is the bad stuff we must refrain from. Then, perhaps, someday, you might be qualified enough to be only 'singaporean in locality, and NOT in personality'...or, if there is enough of you out there to form a significant majority, then being singaporean in personality might be a thing to be proud of.

Think about it.

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PC Security Alert

2007-01-06T14:30:00.000+08:00

Those of you who have Adobe Readers installed on your systems, and whom are using anything below version 8, be warned that a security flaw has been detected in pre-8 versions that could leave your harddrive vulnerable to hackers. This affects both IE and FireFox users. Don't wait for this flaw to be exploited - thus giving yourself the oft-heard opportunity to state, "it's like that one lor/lei/la". Nothing has to be "like that one lor/lei/la" (or anyother monosyllabic whines you might be inclined to use) - not if you do something about it now.

Acrobat Reader 8

bbc

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The Art of Music

2007-01-04T16:24:00.000+08:00

Ever wonder why people tend to go 'ga-ga' over guitarists and other so-called 'musicians' and 'artistes'..

...prancing about on stage or on the silver screen playing chart-topping 'tunes' - which are basically combinations of notes put together that do not sound 'offtune' - at superspeed with a generous dollop of noise and feedback thrown in for little reason?

Simple, these days, it isn't about the music in itself as it once was. It is more to do with providing the increasingly cretinised masses with that which they are deprived of - a sense of power, self-significance and prominence. So the louder and faster they play; the more they gyrate their bodies or throw themselves off the stage into shrieking hysterical 'fans'; the less appropriately-dressed-for-work they look, the more the shrieking amongst the maddening crowd. They sell significance by the barrow but it is worth little more than a spadeful of dust whn we see what this translates to within us. After a quick fix from a well-known 'artiste', we are yet again empowered to be disembowelled in the next working day. In other words, we are not empowered to 'rock around the clock' but to GET 'rocked around the clock'. But if we really scrutinise these artistes, we'll realise that they have nothing significant to say, represent nothing significant, and that their lyrical and musical production is as deep and complex as a puddle formed in that dent on the road after a passing cloud.

The question to ask when we like something is...

...whether it is because of its intrinsic value or because it purely compensates for some sense of deprivation we are encumbered with. It's something like taking a pill for an ailment. We don't take it for its intrinsic value but because of its serving as a remedy for a malady.

I'll leave you with a real tune by a group called, 'The Cousins', that exhibits the value of a tune in itself. The tune is not relegated to the position of an accompaniment for the musicians' egos - as it is today. Rather, these musicians are simply its bearers. Be warned, it is relatively devoid of paracetamolic value unlike those churned out by the 'artistes' comprising the greatest pharmaceutical company in the world of today - 'The Entertainment Industry'.

The Art of Music lies in its potential to Refine Humanity.
Not Blind it.

- the Heretic -

(quote taken from a foreign site)

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Happy 200-7%!!!

2007-01-03T12:41:00.000+08:00

Ever heard the phrase, ‘same shit, different day’? Well, in reality, it would be more true to say, ‘worse shit, different day’. Things don’t get better in a socio-economic milieu like this. It just gets worse. This view has nothing to do with ‘the half full’ or ‘half empty’ optimism-pessimism dichotomy. It is based on scientifically collatable, verifiable and quantifiable facts.

“Hmmm…”

What is the meaning of a ‘new year resolution’...

…in a country where one can expect ‘worse shit, different year’, and where the deer and the antelopes believe that they are not able to anything about the source of the shite?(as illustrated by traditionally, and thus, reflexively utilised phrases such as, “it’s like that one lei/lor/la.” It simply and generally means this - you are going to work even harder to do as much as is necessary to contend with the greater burdens that you are going to be encumbered with. And since the source/s of the shite is going to be left unchallenged, the only way one is going to be able to put up with ‘more shite’ is to shovel the downward flow onto another’s plate. That is, to take more from others and do unto others that which you would not want done to yourself in order to contend with the demands from up yonder. Same thing applies to the ‘wishing you good fortune’ greeting during the Lunar New Year. Both generally mean the same thing, “hope you are successful in becoming a bigger ars#hole than you were the previous year so that you will be able to contend better with the greater amount of shite that is gonna be piled onto your plate in the ‘new’ year.”

An acquaintance of mine, known to some as ‘the simster’, stated that he was going to strive to be ‘more caring’ in the new year. I wonder how he’s going to strike a balance between ‘being taken from’ and ‘giving’ in the new year in a climate like this – though, I must say, it’s most definitely the best resolution I’ve heard in quite a while. Being genuinely caring in a vicious country, however, is synonymous with signalling one’s willingness to being indiscriminately taken over the barrel by just about everyone you meet. He’s gonna need all the help he can get in realising his resolution….and he can most definitely count on my support…

As for the rest of you,

Happy 200-7% (gst)!

That’s translates to about 200% more odds against your becoming less of an ars#hole.

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A Sidewalk Christmas

2007-01-01T12:27:00.000+08:00

As most(in singapore) know, Orchard Road(the hub of singaporean life(lessness)) was open to human traffic on Christmas.

"Oh Whoopsy doo!"

It was interesting to observe how everyone spilled onto the road the moment it was closed to tyred traffic with a force that might be expected when a levee comes asunder, and how many just stood there even though there was more elbow-room on the sidewalks. The relatively greater animation and merriment amongst those who traversed the lanes 'along the watchtower' that were normally forbidden to the non-tyred sector of society was plain to see.

"Hmmm…"

Perhaps when people are deprived of more significant freedoms,

far more joy is found even in the most insignificant, inane and fleeting of opportunities to do that which is normally forbidden. Perhaps it serves as a cathartic valve providing relief for the negative feelings engendered by life in a repressive climate…and which, in turn, serves to ‘empower’ them to put up with far more BS that they might otherwise would. Thus, the need to get on the road may arise from greater needs left unsatisfied (we may not know exactly what we are deprived of, but that does not mean we do not suffer the psychological consequences that arise from such deprivation), being unable to take on confrontational attitudinal/behavioural postures, and failing to pursue intrinsically meaningful activities whilst interned within the bowels of a repressive society.

Little things, I suppose, please thus belittled minds.

I, however, stayed on the sidewalk.....and well away from along the watchtower

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Christmas & the Art of Gift-Giving

2006-12-29T09:54:00.000+08:00

Throughout the year, humans exist largely as ‘employees’.

This means that people generally engage in those characteristics that make us ‘human’, such as listening, acting on, exhibiting interest, exercising imagination, interacting meaningfully and striving aspirationally solely at work. Everything else is generally ‘compensatory’ or ‘recuperative’. That is, they do what they do outside of work not because it is an avenue via which they express themselves – or other aspects of their personas – but simply because it helps them to recuperate from the myriad of maladies they suffer as a consequence of their absorption within the work environment. Hence, social life is reduced to the status of a reservoir from which they drink in order to be rejuvenated for work. In other words, life becomes little more than a means to work as opposed to the inverse.

Christmas,

amongst others, however, demands that life, excluding ‘work’, be validated. It demands that humans be validated as entities of multitudinous potentials and sigificance instead of merely diminutive ‘employees’. This it does, amongst others, through the act of gift-giving. In the act of giving a gift, we have the opportunity to practice in the social arena that which we have throughout the year confined to the self-nullifying ‘work environment’ – validating the significance of an individual as a unique human being and a human being as an unique individual.

The art of gift-giving practices us in doing what we do at work, outside work. In other words, it demands, ideally, that we consider what a person likes; which in turn requires us to consider what the person is; which in turn requires that we have exhibited the requisite interest in the person prior to Christmas; which in turn requires that we have extended the requisite ‘ear-time’ to the person. This in turn will lead us to not only giving the person what s/he likes but what will develop her/him further in the course of the year as a 'full-of-potential' human being. Via such gifts, we validate them as human beings and as individuals. It requires that we put together all their whines, moans, wishes and musings transmitted in the course of the year in order to come up with the right gift.

This basically amounts to us having treated the person as more than just a ‘quick-fix’ - like the daily morning dose of caffeine - to making ourselves feel good/satisfying our own needs and rejuvenating us before plunging into work again. In other words, we must have been a true friend in the altruistic sense of the word.

We’ve often heard the phrase,

“Aiyah, this gal/guy is sooo difficult to buy gifts for…donno what s/he likes….stress lah! Let’s go for a mocha/lai sio hoonkee.”

This usually means that this person has spent much of the year paying attention and showing interest mainly at work and giving ‘the boss’ what s/he wants. They hang on to the boss’s every word and directive and deliver accordingly and on time. But when it comes to their ‘friend’/‘spouse’/‘family’, it is the inverse. Thus, the “Aiyah, this gal/guy is sooo difficult to buy gifts for……”, line.

This is when ‘ang pows’, ‘perfumes’, ‘ties’, ‘socks’, ‘handkerchiefs’, the latest knicks and knacks which is supposed to be “…very popular because everyone also buy” ‘etc’, are given.

“Aiyah, never mind lah…this kind of thing everyone surely want what!”

Hence, the dearly beloved spouse, friend, sibling, family-member, becomes an ‘everyone’ instead of an individual with her/his own personality. It’s difficult to think what this person might want because we have rarely paid any attention to what the person is, her hates and likes, her aspirations and inclinations throughout what then becomes the void between one Christmas and the next. And by such nonchalance, we actually under validate and thus underdevelop our friends, etc, as individuals by not validating their unique personalities prior to and during Christmas. And by such nonchalance, we further destroy any semblance of non-employee humanity within ourselves as we give up yet another chance to practice our humanity via a thoughtful practice of the Art of Gift-Giving.

So, when you get stressed out thinking of a gift for someone dear this Christmas,

remember, that can only be due to your not having given this significant other the requisite ear-time, or ‘friend-time’, in the course of the year – something which you have been devoutly giving your boss during the same time. It is because the siginificant other has been serving as little more than a panacea to the stresses accumulated via work. It is because the significant other has been used as nothing more than a sticky pad for muscle aches induced by the multitude of back-breaking postures you have been forced to get into between 9 to 5 that it has become so difficult to think up the right present for her/him. And yet, if you think about it, the more meaningful and less exploitative your relationships are outside work, the better you’ll be able to cope at work. So, appreciate the hassle of thinking up what you ought to buy a significant other this Christmas, for this indicates the deficiencies in your attitude towards relationships whilst simultaneously exposing those areas that ought to be improved upon in the course of what may consequently cease to be a void till the next Christmas.

When we consider the above, we'll realise that The Art of Gift-Giving practices us in the even finer Art of Being Human.

Merry Christmas to All!

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Recording Industry goes after Allofmp3...n thots on 'legitimacy' and 'justice

2006-12-21T19:55:00.000+08:00

Like in the days of yore when Napster clogged the digital lanes of cyberdom, the recording industry is yet again rounding up a posse to go after an allegedly copyright-infringing company - allofmp3.com - for selling albums and tracks at 'rock-bottom prices'.

Moscow-based 'Mediaservices', which runs 'allofmp3.com' and 'alltunes', is being sued by a group of US-based record companies.

according to papers filed as part of the US legal action,

"The defendant's entire business... amounts to nothing more than a massive infringement of plaintiffs' exclusive rights under the Copyright Act and New York law,"

Said the recalcitrant Russian licensing body - ROMS - in response,

"Allofmp3.com's activity is quite legitimate," said Roms general director Oleg Nezus.
"The opinion of foreign copyright owners is just that - their opinion," he told BBC Russian.com.

Well,

...till this issue is resolved, I have decided to remove the once displayed button at the top to 'mp3sugar.com' - another allofmp3-like site. Not in the interests of Justice of course, but in the interests of what's Legitimate - for it is the fallibility of human wisdom that serves as the chasm between what's 'Legitimate' and 'Justice'.

I often felt a tad bit uncomfortable that a so-called 'artist' can croon a tune one time and shake legs a lifetime. I mean, we don't pay a royalty to the bloke who tarred the road everytime we go over it do we - though that supplies has far more benefits to our physical and, in turn, psychological constitution than any of those tunes occupying a 'top 40s' billboard here or over yonder. And besides this, I cannot help but wonder at the prices charged by 'legitimate' sites - such as Itunes - which proffers relatively lower quality mp3s, without CD covers, artwork, lyrics, etc, whilst saving on transport, shop-space, air-conditioning, carpeting, etc, for just about the same price as store-bought 'wave' quality CDs.

I know it's 'Legitimate', but, pray tell, where's the 'Justice' in that?

Hmmm.....

BBC

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Red vs Red - naNO!?

2006-12-20T11:32:00.000+08:00

Hi Ho Hey All!

I found this 'anti-(Red)' site that promotes an alternative vision to that fronted by so-called 'Humanitarian' Bono of U2 fame via his (RED) project that has so far churned out money-making schemes through products such as the (RED) Ipod nano, (RED) Amex card, (RED) Motorola, etc, etc.

This site - SH(RED)! - posits an alternative and oppositional perspective that seems quite logical and which might just earn us 'bad karma' instead of 'good karma', as supposed by 'Hiptechblog', should we be inspi(red) (by ignorance or/and self-absorption?) to do 'good' by purchasing (RED) products. These 'sh(red)ers' call themselves 'Effective Empathists' and basically argue that poverty and global misery is perpetuated by projects like (RED) rather than the vaunted inverse. Worth considering i think.

Sh(red)

vs.

(Red)

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How to be a StyloMylo

2006-12-16T11:37:00.000+08:00

Disclaimer: The writer of the following will not be responsible for any migraines, hallucinations or disorientation brought about by the consideration of that which is above the mundane - especially if you're a true-blue singaporean. Please consult your family physician or a neighbourhood doctor before proceeding.

I never look up to or admire people whose main ‘laudatory’ attributes are those which they are born with, or that which they can easily acquire with money.

I have a friend who just keeps going on about the inch-above-average size of his genitalia. Upon closer inspection – and I don’t mean of his nether regions – one would find that he has little else to speak about that would have required effort, determination, perseverance and true innate creativity to develop. In fact, if he wasn’t constantly absorbed by this, he might have paid more attention to other aspects of his human persona and developed them to an appreciable degree. What one deems to be one’s greatest asset can oftentimes detract one from developing other potentials of greater value.

I have yet another friend who at times believes himself to be one step above another simply because he has a relatively fuller head of hair. (I remember that clown Gurmit Singh appearing on TV once promoting some hair-restoration company telling us to ‘be a man’ and ‘have hair’. Sheesh! Looks like jackasses rule the media here.) He forgets that what he is born with is of no credit to him.

True ‘Style’ is...

...that which comes from how one maximises what one has. Whether it is a physically disabled person, a balding gal/guy, or a member of the underclass, it is their doing the best with whatever resources are at their disposal to amplify the various aspects of their persona that puts them on par with those deemed to be the creme de la creme of society – i.e. those with ‘good looks/hair’, humongatronic genitalia/‘boobs’, tons of cash, social/academic status, singapore 'idols', those who drive merserlys(mercedes) or BMtup-pews(BMW), those with well-working limbs and senses, etc.

'Looks' is just the external manifestation of the substance behind the otherwise cosmetic facade. In itself, it is entirely meaningless.

In fact, the former may not only be on par with them in value, but may also be seen to be superior since they have maximised whatever they have to the fullest despite all odds. It is these people who truly have Style because it comes from within, and with little aid from without. These are people who are creative enough, in a jiu-jitsu fashion, to turn their disadvantage into an advantage whereas the latter are those who just sail relatively smooth on the advantages they are given or born with and who think they are superior on this God-given or inherited basis. Which is why, in my books, Arnold Schwarzenneger is lilliputian in proportion next to Stephen Hawking. (if you don't know who Stephen Hawking is, you've been hanging out with the wrong company)

I suppose, at the end of the day,

True ‘Style’ is doing the most with what you have, as opposed to being proud of what you have regardless of what you do.

In fact, the recognition and appreciation of this principle – despite your having or not having inborn talents and physical characteristics of social value – is that which makes you the most Stylo-Mylo of them all or, at least, equal to them.

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SRVs 'Little Wing'...n thots on singapore

2006-12-14T14:00:00.000+08:00

Well, besides tech stuff, i decided to post stuff on one of my other interests -music. Nah, i don't mean the contemporary crap people here listen to and mistake for 'music'. You know what i'm talking about, the 'RnB', 'Rave', AmericoPop BS that is basically about nothing other than self-assertion with the music serving as little more than a prop or a background to a wiggling ass, or arms-akimbo-like attitudinal posturing that basically says nothing other than, "hey, i'm a big shot! Come kiss my as##". Well, allow me to take you to another time where music meant soul, passion, ideology, spirit, belief...or just plain simplicity. I don't go for terminology like 'retro'. It's just another word for 'irrelevance'. There is good and there is bad. It's location in time and space is irrelevant. Don't expect singaporeans to understand all this though....well, not generally anyway.

To kick off, here's SRV's 'little wing'. More of a tribute to this great bluesman. Oh, by the way, those who don't know who SRV is, i would say, go get a life, and the best way to start is to tune out of contemporary mainstream BS. SRV - the late, Stevie Ray Vaughan.

A good way to check out good blues vids is the 'Excalibur' pub in Tanglin Shopping Centre(ground floor facing the main road). Can't beat the 'Roadhouse' at Tanjong Pagar where i used to tend bar about a decade ago. That was indeed a blues bar. Now, its been replaced by an outlet servicing the 'chia'(those who live to eat rather than eat to live) sector of society. Imagine replacing a premium quality blues pub (which had Heritage as its resident band) with an eatery. I mean, if something good has to be replaced, it ought to be replaced by something good right. Unless the definition of 'good' changes along with the people. In which case, the eatery says much about the degeneration of the population doesn't it. Sheesh! Sad man.

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Get Less for More this Christmas for your loved ones

2006-12-11T15:03:00.000+08:00

Read between the lines...

You can leave it to the nano-brains - who've shuffled off any semblance of intelligence upon their 'elevation' to the status of 'consumers' - to spoil the market by paying more for less and validating the (giving consumers)less-for-more(money) approach of, amongst others, 'Apple'. Of course, being 'consumers', one cannot expect them to see further than the tips of their noses eh.

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Quad Core Processors for a x386 market?

2006-12-06T10:59:00.000+08:00

Fwar!, or should i say, Corrr!! Blimey!

Now you can have the power of 4 physical processing cores in one. That means, you can have far greater computing speed that will in turn let you do all the insignificant things that you do with greater speed and efficiency. i.e. specifically referring to 'gamers', 'techies', and those who love to keep up with the djoneses. ('d'joneses - digital version of the traditional 'joneses')

When we used to play snakes-n-ladders or marbles when we were younger, we did not go around calling ourselves 'gamers' or 'snakesNladderers' or 'marblers'. We had other overall identities which made these trivial pursuits inconsequential in defining whom we were. Well, times have changed and the personality of the general population has been severely blinkered. Hmmm...

But I digress.

These superspeed processors will basically enable you to do a whole lot of tasks simultaneously and with far greater speed. Oh yes, and 'gamers' can have stutter-free experiences in their trivial pursuits whilst 'techies' can have the latest stuff simply because it is the latest stuff and not because they are doing anything meaningful with it.

It is going to be priced at around a $1000 usd, and this, if paired with a multi-SLI GPU system is going to be quite the bomb in price and power.

I dare say that there will be a time when these multi-core processors will go the way of multi-pin processors and will simply be called 'processors' that are gauged by their overall output or performance just as '1.8', '2.8' or '3ghz' single-core processors were, and are, in the present. This 'core duo', 'core 2', 'quad core' terms are generally marketing gimmicks designed to excite the 'modern' and increasingly unthinking market into 'thinking' that they are really getting something "ooh! so shiny and new!". I suppose that sounds better than, say, calling them '8ghz processors' in terms of their actual comparative performance.

intel
cnet

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Commodifying 'Free'

2006-12-04T14:51:00.000+08:00

Look at the following 'specs' provided on 'cnet asia' for a particular notebook.

Show price: S$5,299
Retail price: S$5,299
Remarks: Free 1GB Palachan MP3 player and upgrade to two-year warranty.
Specs: Core Duo 2.0GHz processor; 1GB memory; 200GB HDD; 17-inch display; Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 graphics card; DVD Super Multi drive; Windows XP Media Center Edition.

Notice anything amiss?

Now what if one was to re-present the above in the following way,

Show price : $5,299
Retail price : $5,299
Specs: 1GB Palachan MP3 player; two-year warranty;
Core Duo 2.0GHz processor; 1GB memory; 200GB HDD; 17-inch display; Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 graphics card; DVD Super Multi drive; Windows XP Media Center Edition.

Well, for starters, you wouldn't be led to think that you are getting more than your money's worth since there is no item that is prefixed with 'FREE'. Secondly, one may be led to inquire why they have to purchase a '1GB Palachan MP3 player' along with the notebook - which in turn will lead them to demand that the price be lowered in exchange for their making do without this 'addon'.

To circumvent such 'troublesome' people, and increase their profits further through the sale of such irrelevant add-ons, they just stick the word 'free' in front of it and the masses of fools, also known as consumers, or 'singaporeans', go googoo and queue in droves for what is supposed to be a deal of 'wah lan oi!!!' proportions. As Rumpole of the Bailey would say, 'The mind boggles' at such insensibility. Tsk tsk.

If one was to spare more than the traditionally practiced(in the local context) iota of a modicum of thought, as is the time-honoured way of those practising the predominant culture in the local context, one would realise that it is because of the consumer's penchant for 'free', that retailers, etc, are able to sell more than they might otherwise be able to. All they have to do is to include the cost in the price and stick the 'free' word in front of it and the consumers will descend upon them in biblical plague-like proportions. Whoever would have thought that the word 'free' would in itself be able to generate huge profits eh.

Interesting isn't it.

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Netscape 8 - a viable and superior alternative to IE and FF?

2006-11-30T20:19:00.000+08:00

Well, amidst the hullaballoo over billionaire billy boy's IE 7 and the much vaunted Firefox, another competitor has slowly slid into the background. That's 'Netscape 8' i'm talking about.

Netscape 8 has a comprehensive set of features which include a 'Security Center' which warns you against blacklisted 'phishing' sites; real-time spy/adware protect which is also able to scan your memory and system for such crapware; real-time RSS feeds; ID Theft protection; pop-up blocking; and whole load of other ETCs that puts you in control of your browser like neither IE or FF can.

What i particularly like is the ability close a tab via a 'x' button located on every tab instead of having to go to the far-right to do it in FF or via a right-click menu. It is these little things that go a long way in making the browsing experience nothing but browsing instead of having to run all over the place to do a whole lot of little things that we need to do a whole lot of times. On top of this, N8 has a real sleek interface that FF and IE will find difficult to beat. Oh yeah, this site also looks as good (or as 'bad') in N8 as it does in FF.

Netscape 8

p.s. i'm finally wirelessly wired and am writing this on my bar - with SRV doing the blues-thing in the aural background. An upstanding "Cheers!" to Bagio of Bedok.

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Coming soon : I-phone

2006-11-24T14:51:00.000+08:00

I had said sometime ago that Apple's Ipod was in danger of becoming obsolete as Mobile Phone companies were integrating mp3 playback in their overpriced phones.

Well, it looks like Apple too has realised this - no doubt through the contribution of 'intellectual property' from others (so much for 'honouring IP' eh?) - and is expected to release an 'iPhone' in the first half of next year. So the senseless groupies of the ubiquitous 'Ipod' should have something to look forward to and give them that modicum of meaning in life to keep them plodding forward. I personally go for functionality and not looks - well, not all of the time anyway. Nor am i seduced by the amplified 'quality' of a product attributed to it as a consequence of the prominence afforded it or the hysteria whipped up amongst the great moronic masses of 'consumers'.

That said, it would be interesting how this impacts on mobile phone companies and what this might force them to do RnDwise. Since we can't rely on 'Collaboration' for progress because of the crappy system we are mi(red) in, we just have to rely on 'Competition' eh?

apple ready to rock the phone world

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