Rock Star: INXS

The latest Reality TV and Idol fare on television the world over comes from the King of it all himself - Mark Burnett. And i have to admit - It's a stroke of genius, a win-win situation and a great example of push-pull media integration. Here's how and why...

1. The over-the-hill INXS band members get a second chance at life - in the limelight 2 nights a week on our tubes the world over. Before this, they were probably chewing down some fair dinkum grub with aunt lucy way out back in a place probably called woolawoomba.

2. Cool again. Revival of old INXS songs. In various flavours too. The 14 diverse inxs lead wannabes cleverly selected to appeal to every audience taste. There's one for every one. You have your kurt cobain. Your sheryl crow. Your Terence trent darby. Your Jagger. And your michael hutchence. And they all sing suicide blondes in their own way. Also amazing that the songs the contestants sing are almost immediately available for purchase and download from the rockstar msn website. (they're all pretty darn good singers)

3. Instant Fame and following for the next INXS Lead singer. The relatively unknown singer that eventually gets to be the lead singer is granted instant stardom before he even sings the first new INXS song. Now thats what i call... content... and creation... (The contestants also keep blogs on the site tracking the progress of the contest)

4. Beyond SMS voting like they do in American Idol... votes can be done through the website and supposedly through MSN messenger too. Ad and sponsorship sales also carries on from tube to net.

4. And... Dave Navarro gets another spot in TV besides his little home videos with Carmen. It can be assumed that he is there so some real rockstar youth will rub off onto a coupla old fellas. (Seem like nice old fellas though)

Pretty impressive if you asked me...

Attention! All You Uncircumcised Men

Well, there you have it. Study has shown that circumcision is effective prevention against AIDS infection. The results are quite encouraging too, showing 7 out 10 infections can be prevented. I'm just wondering how on earth did the scientists come up with such an idea for research. What inspired the genius scientist to see a connection between foreskin and AIDS. It's like he's sitting there one day with his fellow genius colleagues, and said "hey guys, let's try foreskin".

The wonders of science and modern medicine. Brilliant!

So, guys, sunat?

Bill's New Brand: Windows Vista

Microsoft is dropping the long horn for a clear view - announcing new brand name "Windows Vista" for their much-delayed operating system. The new brand name comes complete with new tagline ""Clear, Confident, Connected; Bringing clarity to your world." selling clarity and connectivity.

Longhorn seems like it was Bill's idea and Vista the Mrs'. Most would agree that Vista is much better than Longhorn - softer and less fodder for those many long wait jokes. However, it still rubs off a little dated (eighties) and bland. Vista is obviously a safe choice made to appeal to the masses. Even your grannie won't mind it. And safe is always a snore.

One can assume that the name as much as the operating sytstem is being beta-tested at the moment and that we haven't seen the last of name changes.

If you asked us, the famous multi-coloured Windows icon is looking very dated too and in much need of a significant revamp.

Asta La Vista for now.

SEVEN SWORDS - 七劍

From the preliminary looks of it, SEVEN SWORDS directed by Tsui Hark appears to be arguably the first credible made-in-Asia Period Epic. If you pardon the few Hollywood dead wood he was involved with, Tsui Hark is one of Asia's most under-rated film directors. My first Hark fare was The Butterfly Murders (1979). Now that's going way way back.

War Of The Portable Video Worlds

Prepare for War Of The Worlds. The Portable Video World that is, and its two eminent devices of mass consumption - The Sony Playstation Portable (PSP) and the till-now-elusive Apple vPod (Video iPod).

Rumors are wild about the arrival finally of the vPod - a video-abled version of the much successful iPod by Apple. The latest version of iTunes already supports watching videos and downloading music videos from Apple's online shop. Apparently Apple is propositioning the sale of music videos to the major labels. Now would you pay to watch music videos? You already do somewhat with your cable subscription to the MTV channel so why not pay also to see it on a 3.5 LCD screen? One can only guess if Apple can indeed successfully hawk pay-per-download music videos. Whatever the case, one can surely expect more short-form add-on content giving Music Videos commercial functions beyond posters for songs.

Signs of War is highlighted with hot-off-the-press and rather timely announcement of software updates to the sony playstation and the launch of a new PSP website video/content portal. The PSP software updates eases support of videos on the device and also allows internet browsing. Also announced was a new white PSP. Hmmm. Anything portable, white and plays media conjures an image of an iPod. Go figure.

Geek My Ride!

While the pimps are busy getting laid in the back seat, the Geeks are busy cutting their first movie. Talk about Edit Envy!

(click the title to view)

Creative Microsoft Technologies

Recent rumors that Microsoft might buy Singapore's very own baby Creative Technologies saw gains in its stock performance. That's a good thing. Creative is one of the worst performing stocks in the market this year and losing severely its iPod war.

I'm of the Apple camp but if the rumors are true, it'd be an even better thing. Creative needs new leadership. They also need new product strategies. They have to realise that they don't have to be Apple to beat Apple (there is room for other fruits), that content is King and that it is but a brittle shell if there is no yolk.

They need new blood. They need new leadership.
And they better hurry. Its getting dark out there.

WWE - World's Ultimate Variety Brand?

I, like many others, grew up a devout kiddy fan of WWF. Yes, the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) as we know it today was formerly a wrestling federation with the WWF brand-mark before being sued by the other WWF - the World Wildlife Fund. The early WWF days were prime with the likes of Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, King Kong Bundy, Rowdy Rod Piper and the occasional star (Cindy Lauper and Mr.T to name a few) thrown in for glamour. You'd probably get smacked down by a wrestler then if you questioned the authenticity of his sport. I still do watch it every so often for its surprisingly high entertainment factor despite the cheesy dialogue and melodramatic plots.

Fast forward.

WWE senior vice-president recently paid a visit to Asia and in an interview with the local papers touted WWE as the world's ultimate variety brand. When asked, he said that WWE's huge following was based on their larger than life super-man characters and dramatic soap opera storylines woven in with wrestling. They have about 100 television personnel and creative writers in Connecticut who churn out nine hours of episodic soap opera every week. The secret to WWE's success was their merchandising plan that reaches out to as large an audience as possible he added.

I agree.

The success of the WWE range of products is very commendable. Their approach to content is very innovative if not unique. There are many copy cats. Their branded RAW and SmackDown programmes are getting paid-per-views the world over. They also have very clever merchandising grooming Hollywood stars like the Rock, Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin. They've even got WWE babes in bikinis sprawled on the covers of Sports Illustrated. Hell, WWE Champion John Cenna's rap song "Bad Bad Man" ain't too shabby either and aiming for the pop music charts. The A-Team spoof video for it is quite hilarious by the way. Although one might use the word sport in this context loosely, WWE can probably boast to have the best looking Sports programme graphics and packaging on air today.

World's Ultimate Variety Brand?

I don't buy it. For now.

Good old Vinny (Vince McMahon, WWE CEO) is a smart guy but his current product do not justify the claim. In the future perhaps - if he loses the afore-mentioned creative team in Connecticut with their "Born On The Fourth Of July" sentitments. It is quite surprising that WWE has garnered a wide following beyond America considering how american-centric and xenophobic it's content is. WWE's nine hours of "episodic soap operas" a week are built on heros you cheer and villains you boo. The heros are almost always Captain America types and the villians are almost always... foreign. Foreign to America that is. Flavour of the Middle American month and American foreign policy dictates nationality, breed and attributes of the foreign villain. The latest villains are a laurel and hardy duo - a stereo-typical Arab wrestler called Muhammad Hassan and his ranting side-kick fanatic Daivari. They typically wobble into the ring, rant and ramble before getting thrown out by the mighty arm of Captain America and his Justice League (Fade in Stars and Stripes and National Anthem Now). The French have had their evil days recently - furnished with dorky accents and freedom fries. Surprise surprise. The poor Canadians are always villains. We'll blame this one on sibling or shall we say neighbourly rivalry. Japanese ninja wrestler Tajiri was a villain earlier but he is now "one of us". So begs the questions - Shall we see the Red Army Kung Fu wrestler Charlie Chan make his evil entry? Or has the might of Yao Ming's home dollar slam-dunked Villain Chan before his time?

The trend towards the "real" and reality entertainment might also prove a hindrance to WWE pursuits. "Real" combat sport entertainment is gaining phenomenal following and eating away at WWE's fan base. Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) in America and Pride Fighting Championships in Japan are gaining popular appeal with their champions and icons moving beyond cultish following. Their heros are real and so are their villains. Acknowledging the trend towards real combat, WWE have tried in short stints to woo real fighters like Mike Tyson and UFC legend Ken Shamrock into their stables. UFC DVDs now occupy almost the same amount of shelf space at HMV. Look and compare in the "Sports" section. UFC and other up-and-coming sports brands may lack the funds and sponsorship that WWE has now but they appear to have more considered and sustainable content that appeals to a truly broader audience. One must surely sniff their potential as the next big sports entertainment brand with their own breed of successful Variety Superstars.

The Half Blood Prince

The expected sales of The Half Blood Prince and the phenomenal success of the entire Harry Potter series illustrates just how potently worthy the figment of one's imagination can be. Lets not even get started with Lucas and his Star Wars.

The Designer & The Artist

The lines between a Graphic Designer and a Visual Artist are much blurred these days. The following is a self-effacing comparison that might help differentiate the two.

Designer And Artist?
The artist owns his brief. The client owns the designer’s brief.
The art itself is the artist’s message. The product is the designer’s message.
The artist has one style. The designer has no style.
The artist expresses problems. The designer solves problems.
The artist prices his work after. The designer prices his work before.
The artist paints. The designer thinks of what the artist should paint.
The artist strokes his own ego. The designer strokes the ego of others.
Everyone pays for the artist's dinner. The designer pays for everyone's dinner.
Art looks beautiful. Design works beautiful.
There is high art. There is no high design.
You don’t have to get the art. You must get the design.
The artist doesn’t kiss butt. The designer is a slut.
The artist dies. The designer gets promoted to creative director.
Eventually the artist fades. Eventually the designer jades.

Tis The Time To Tag Team

The Time To Tag Team has arrived. Take a look around. In the tradition of Hulk Hogan and Mr. T in Wrestlemania 1 - people, organisations and products are teaming up. For better or worse one might argue.

Believe this not? Here are some notable examples...

Lenovo + IBM
The People's Tag Team - The mass might of “Made In China” manufacturing + the brilliance of “Made In America” branding. Lenovo’s consumer markets + IBM’s business customers. This historical coupling is best summarised with This Letter which also features a team photo of Chairman Yang and CEO Ward. Say Cheese! guys (or Tofu) - the world is watching.

Morgan Freeman + Intel
The Where Did That Come From? Tag Team - Can the technological innovation of an Oscar-winning actor and the sexy star glamor of a chip maker finally solve peer-to-peer film piracy? Intel is tag teaming with Morgan Freeman's Revelations Entertainment company on Clickstar, a venture set to launch in 2006. Clickstar's mission is 1) to side-step the cinema as the default vehicle for viewing films on their first release and 2) to glamorize the microprocessor industry.

Apple + Intel
The Cheap Chip Tag Team - Consistent with goals to glamorize the microprocessor industry, Intel has also teamed up with Apple. Next generation sexy Imacs and iBooks will sport 'Intel Inside' labels. No more IBM Power PC chips. Did the newly branded Lenovo ThinkPads make Apple Think Different?

Apple + Motorola
The Ipod Might Die Tag Team - After much battles and delay, the Motorola Apple iTunes Phone is finally due out. Sporting ITunes mobile software (looks much like the iPod's), the Motorola E790 will allow you access to song purchase downloads from Apple's Online Music Store. "Hello iPhoto" next?

Napster + (Sony + Ericsson)
The Prodigal Son Returns Tag Team - The prodigal son Napster is reformed and returns to play the game by the book with Sony Ericsson in a tag team against the afore-mentioned Ipod Might Die Tag Team.

Adobe + Macromedia
The PDFLash Tag Team - The Holy Grail of Tag Teams voted most likely to change the content creation and document exchange landscape. Knocking down the Gates of Microsoft?

Tom Cruise + Katie Holmes
The Hubbard or Holmes? Tag Team - No matter what one might think of Mr. Top Gun's recent public antics, Katie Holmes' alignment with the Cruise Brand can only be a good thing. For her that is. Look at former tag team mate Kidman. She's queen of the world.

Nightmare Freddy + Halloween Jason
The Killer Yawn Tag Team - Freddy resurrects Jason Voorhees and sends him to Elm Street to create havoc, making people think Kreuger did it. When Jason steals some kills from Freddy, the latter begins to fight the infamous hockey mask-wearing killer. Yawwwwn.

Chewing Gum + Breast Enhancement
The Mouthful Tag Team - Bust-Up Gum: A chewing gum which the makers say can help enhance the size, shape and tone of the breasts. Maybe this one is better as Double Bubble Team.

Google + Google
The Because They Can Tag Team - 'Nuff Said

Singapore's 1st Legitimate Graffiti

The Information Age Is Dead!

If you are a fan of Sun Systems and it's COO Jonathan Schwartz, you'd subscribe to the "Birth Of The Participation Age" and mourn the "Death Of The Information Age!"

More on CNet Videos

Kim Jong Il On The Art Of...

The Great Leader Comrade Kim Jong Il on:

The Art Of Cinema

The Art Of Architecture

The Art Of Music

The Great Leader Comrade Kim Jong Il Quotes:

"Life without music is a garden without flowers."

"Revolutionary songs are the march of the times, resounding loudly in the ranks of the people's struggle."

"The more you listen to, the more you feel pleasant, the more deeply its meaning is imprinted on your mind and the more you want to sing; that is the famous music."

Workers Of The Whole World, Unite!

Stay hungry, stay foolish

Stay hungry, stay foolish - that was what Apple CEO and Co-Founder Steve Jobs wished for graduating students at Stanford University last month.

In his speech, he shared three stories about his life.

The first had to do with connecting the dots in life. The second was about love and loss. And the third was about death. - stories which we can all identify with at some point in our life.

I found it inspiring. Maybe you will too.

Read it here:

Commencement Speech

Everyone is Creative and Nobody knows Anything

"Nobody Knows Anything"
Quote on filmmaking by screenwriter William Goldman
(Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, Marathon Man)

"Everyone is Creative. The ones that aren't are just lazy."
Anonymous

"The only thing better than conceiving good ideas is others acknowledging that they are indeed great ideas and you conceiving more good ideas in turn."
Anonymous

"It Just Works"
Jim Allchin, Microsoft's group vice president for platforms on Longhorn

"It's there to be done. So just go do it."
Anonymous

Confessions Of Burning Men

It has been our recent fortune to have met a few fellow creators burning with passion and ambition for their craft and dreams. Kudos to Mr. Juan Foo - an independent producer with an arsenal of conviction. Very much active in the Lion City scene, he has produced amongst others - Perth the Movie which will be released theatrically shortly, Talking Cock the Movie and the 2001 Return to Pontainak (The title of which was changed to Voodoo something for North American release 'cause everyone thought it was a film about cars. Now thats funny. Good one)

It has also been our pleasure to have met like-minded Unsu Lee. Great guy and fellow creator/filmmaker. Much Kudos to him for getting his two sizable projects off the ground. He has directed and produced Confessions Of A Burning Man - a documentary feature on the infamous Burning Man Festival and Happily Even After - his first narrative feature starring Fay Matterson and Jason Behr of Roswell fame. Cheers mate.

Game to be Godfather?

Join the family, pay your respects and return favours, get made and Brando's your buddy.

The upcoming game based on Mario Puzo's Classic Godfather Series by Electronic Arts featuring voices and impressions from the original cast.

Game Synopsis
Welcome to the Corleone family…

"Featuring non-linear action-adventure gameplay, The Godfather will offer gamers countless choices for solving the family’s problems with brutal violence, skillful diplomacy, or a cunning mixture of both. From mob hits and bank heists to drive-bys and extortion, step deep inside the world of The Godfather -- where intimidation and negotiation are your tickets to the top. Players will use their powers of loyalty and fear to earn respect through interactions with characters in the world. Decisions made by the player in the game will have lasting consequences, just as it was in the mob underworld featured in The Godfather fiction.

The Godfather film from Paramount Pictures featured some of Hollywood’s finest actors, and several are contributing to the game’s development. All character likenesses from the movie will be included, and lending their voices to add a dramatic and cinematic touch to the game are the late Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone, James Caan as Sonny Corleone and Robert Duvall as consigliere Tom Hagen."

Are they gonna pull it off or screw it up?

Mianshi Liumang 面食流氓

Noodlem: Noodle-Eating Hoodlums

They call them mianshi liumang 面食流氓 in China, menrui go-ro めんるいごろ in Japan and gook-su baeksu 국수백수 in Korea. These Noodle-Eating Hoodlums represent the next generation Asians born to an era when the old guard of the East and its traditional regiments are melting to the fast and furious heat of progressive change in Asia.

With some traits similar to the Beatniks, Hippies and Gen-Xers of the West, a Noodlem – Noodle-Eating hoodlum – is an urban Asian subscribing to a cultural hoodlumism. This cultural hoodlumism – Noodlemism – is a wholly Asian phenomenon and is a rebellion against conformity, homogeneity and the old value systems of YesterAsia. Noodlemism is a journey in identity and an exercise in individualism and self-expression. This journey in identity is an evolving experiment in cultural hybridity. This exercise in individualism and self-expression is a new spirit and way of thinking and living.

Noodlemism manifests itself in various gang cultures and chants (expression). Noodlem gangs are common in their rebellion but differ in their expression and journeys. They share cause but not effect. The fashionable consumerist shinjinrui しんじんるい of Japan can be identified as an a early gang manifestation of Noodlemism. The manga-manic otaku オタク of Japan and the funky iconoclastic linglei 另类 of China are more recent occurences.

KPunks in Korea is another Noodlem gang variant shouting their particular hybrid chant of punk rock. Noodlemism is defining a Neo-Asia Cool and its voice represents the genesis of FutureAsia – the impending nucleus of cultural influence, popular trend and opinion leadership.

RSS - Real Singlish Support?

I overheard a hawker stall conversation the other day that went a little something like this: "The new Windows is called Longhorn. Got support for RSS - Real Singaporean Singlish some more. Damn cool man." "Yah right. You wait long long lah. What do Ang Mohs know about Real Singaporean Singlish one?"

The real question in this case is:

WHAT EXACTLY IS RSS?
In the recent OS buzz and battles, it was indeed announced that the coming soon Microsoft Windows codenamed "Longhorn" will have system-wide support for RSS. But more factually some call "RSS" Real Simple Syndication while others refer to it as Rich Site Summary. Both are accurately descriptive so the ball is in your court.

RSS was originally designed by Netscape as a text format tool (XML) for building portals of headlines extracted from major news websites. Various developers have since taken it up sprouting various RSS flavours (7 to be exact). RSS has now proliferated on the internet as a popular method for distributing headlines, updates and news in summary to audiences that want a glimpse before committing to a full download or visit. You may liken it to news and stock tickers common on television programs. The difference being RSS is "Pull" enabled allowing you to grab more so to speak. Television on the other hand is "Push" although this is to change with interactive and digital television.

Popularity of RSS can be attributed to the adoption by the Weblog/Blogging community as a means to share their latest blog entries. The ever-increasing Podcast phenomenon is built on RSS itself. Podcast - a blend of the words 'iPod" and "Broadcasting" is a democratic method of distributing MP3 content via RSS feeds.

Since 2004 almost every major news organisation have taken to RSS as a method to syndicate their news headlines and summaries. Current and future browsers feature support for accepting and reading RSS feeds. There are also stand-alone RSS feed readers in more widget-like desktop applications.

In context, the RSS feed to Splogger: The Spoon Blog can be created from www.spoon.com.sg/splog/splogger.xml

However, if support for Real Singaporean Singlish is important to you, also can. Make a feature-request at the Longhorn Development Center lah.

20% extra

The difference between an outstanding piece of work and one that merely hits the mark is that extra 20% effort invested in the former.

Ingredient Branding

Jargons in the world of Branding are plentiful. Ingredient Branding is one such that many may not be familiar with.

WHAT IS INGREDIENT BRANDING?
Ingredient Branding is as suggested: a strategic branding effort to communicate the benefits and strengths of an ingredient and component (tangible or otherwise) of a product to heighten its perceived value. The desired consumer response is "Wow. It's got this inside." or "Let's buy this because it's made with that."

There are many arguments for and against the use of ingredient branding with case-studies that have shown results and others that have flopped. The general consumer may not be familiar with the term but will be aware of the many examples in the market.

Some examples include:

Intel Inside
Personal computers with Intel chips inside. Apple Computers recently announced that they will be dropping IBM chips in favour of Intel for their future line of personal computers. (Food for thought - Now try imagining their television commercials signing off with that famous Intel Jingle)

NutraSweet
Diet soft drinks and confectionery with NutraSweet playing to the trend towards a subscription to a healthy lifestyle. How much sugar and a good thing is really too bad for you?

Made In Japan, Not China
"Made Better In 1st World Country And Proud" labels that play to the subscription that this product has higher production value and "Made In My Great Country I Love" branding that plays to patriotic consumer subscriptions.

Real Live Italians Inside
You find examples even at your local corner cafe and kopitiams. I walked past a neighborhood pasta deli once which had the distinguished label "Cooked By Real Live Italians" on its signage. Further down the road i came across a Chinese takeway shop that had one of its own - "No Yucky, No MSG".

so... what's your ingredient, Boss?

Suss This Out: Down and Dirty Pictures

If you love and/or hate everything about American Indie Films - the business of and history - Suss this out: Down and Dirty Pictures : Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film by former Variety writer Peter Biskind - also responsible for Easy Riders Raging Bulls. This is a timely read - especially so with the impending arrival of Weinstein Co. Sundancing with the kid and pulp fiction with sex, lies and videotape. The essential Movie Mogul backstory for the true film fan.

Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse

Hollywood would have us believe we are all headed for certain extinction. We risk being blown to bits by nuclear warheads, rogue comets and asteroids, hunted and killed by aliens, frozen to death by an impending ice age, drowned and smashed by tidal waves, swallowed by earthquakes and zombiefied by toxic spills.

Thankfully Hollywood also thoughtfully provided the roadmaps for recovery embedded in the scripts of the movies themselves. The solution to run around your neighborhood screaming and dying in highly creative ways, or else die in highly impressive numbers, until highly paid American celebrities lead a team of highly trained Americans to our rescue.

To those who have seen the fundamental error depicted in the last 2 paragraphs (we should be running around in Raffles Place, not in our neighborhood) its time to take matters in our own hands! Having sat through an immensely entertaining private screening of Shaun of the Deadin our office, I subsequently stumbled upon the ultimate DIY solution to repelling any such attacks of walking gangrene:

The Zombie Survival Guidelooks to be a hilarious spoof of survivalist books that goes into such detail as to what to wear (tight fitting clothes) and where to hide (definitely NOT the Winchester Pub) when the evil dead come knocking. Never mind that it was written by the SON of highly paid American Celebrity Mel Brooks..

Suss This Out: PhoneTaps Podcast

Z100 Phone Taps Podcast
Phunny Phone Pranks by the guys at NYC Z100 Radio station. We laugh. We like.

What is Podcast?
Podcasting is a method of publishing files via the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed and receive new files automatically. It became popular in late 2004, intended largely for downloading audio files onto a portable MP3 player. However, listening to podcasts does not require a portable player and it is not traditional "broadcasting" to a mass audience at a fixed time.
More about Podcast on Wilkipedia

Character Sketches

Olympic 2012 Fever

Olympic Fever hits Singapore. Feels like the oscars with stars, celebrities and powerbrokers abound. The one that bends, the one that floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee and the first female president of USA to name a few. Amusing it is that the cause of all this hooh-hah are a couple of fellows who will be runing and jumping around in spandex in almost a decade's time from now.

Some torching highlights...

Flashiest Olympic Bid website:
New York City
Have a look at this nice little add-on: Share Your Dream

Classiest Olympic Bid website & Logo:
London City

Most Cut-n-Paste Olympic Bid website:
Moscow City

Olympic Bid website with most language options:
Moscow City is the only website with Chinese and Arabic versions. (Ironically Paris and London only have French & English - See Most Olympian Jibe below)

Most Olympian Opening Statement:
"Russia is eternal, yet Russia is new." (Hmmm)

Most Olympian Jibe:
Chirac on Britian: "One cannot trust people whose cuisine is so bad. The only thing they (Britian) have ever done for European agriculture is mad cow disease."(Smirk)

Most Likely New Olympic Sport:
Golf

Results in a few hours - My Bet:
Viva Paris

The World According to Google

Google is one of the (if not the) most innovative companies in the world today.
Some of their latest...

Google Earth
Amazing and visionary. What next? Go macro - Google Universe? (find ET)
or go micro - Google Me? (find that offending cellular tissue).

Google Video
As videotape - a blessing in disguise for porn moguls and pimps.

Google Your Googling
Search your search history.

Hey Google Where's my Ride?
What Singapore desperately needs - Solution to that darn disappearing midnight cab mystery.

More at Google Kindy
Google's technology playground. Sheesh. kids these days.

Admittedly most are betaware but who is worried?
Googlism is the biggest religion boasting the highest geek subscription.

[ Abstract Art ]

Product of The Untalented
Sold by The Unprincipal to
The Utterly Bewildered
-Unknown

The Big Blog Forward

A revolution is sweeping through Asia's virtual community, transforming what began as a random collection of personal journals into a dynamic, controversial and sensationalised community known as a blogosphere.

With 3.35 million people operating blogs in Japan, and networks like www.blogkumedia.com aiming to make blogs a mainstream reality in Chinese Internet, it is hardly surprising that Asia has been dubbed the next frontier in blogging. Join us on this voyeuristic ride as we log onto some of the best virtual idiosyncrasies the east has to offer.

XIAXUE – WHY ARE YOU WORSHIPPING THE BLOG I WALK ON?
From Singapore, a cross between an FHM model and manga character, the (photoshop-enhanced) pictures of “Xiaxue” alone are worth a blog visit. Foul-mouthed or irreverent, sex kitten or just plain smutty, decide for yourself at XiaXue's Blog Site.

Blog Quote:
“Some girls say they are mean & bitchy too, but they are actually mild like hand soap - while I am the real thing, baby! I look at you in the eye and tell you you look like a blind La Salle student (note: art school student) dressed you up.”

If you prefer the girl-next-door, check out: BKKSoul by Lynn, an equally photogenic, but utterly wholesome, Thai blogger with so much grey matter that her first manuscript has landed a New York literary agent representation.

REZWAN, THE THIRD WORLD VIEW
The outsider view of Bangladesh isn’t always postcard-pretty. Political unrest, natural disasters and religious extremism define the South East Asian republic in global news headlines. The mission of Third World View is to offer an alternate perspective, to be “a window of Bangladesh” from an insider’s point of view. Learn about Bangladeshi bands (the blogger, Rezwan, is a fan of The Doors), cricket and one opinionated blogger’s take on affairs around the world at The Third World View.

On the Bangladeshi rock scene (and piracy):
“Elephant Road is a street which has three stores (namely Rainbow, Gitali, Ganer Bhuban) which has all kinds of LPs and later on CDs which they copy onto cassette for you for a fee (screw copyright). I remember that in my teens "Rainbow" was also my favorite shop for recording songs of my choice into cassettes. The owner Kabir was famous for knowledge in world music and his collection.”

YAN SHAM-SHACKLETON, GLUTTER.ORG
Using the blog as a kind of alternative journalism, Gluttergirl, or Yan Sham-Shackleton writes about freedom of the press, art and the state of Hong Kong’s political affairs. Her blog is banned in China for its support of the democratic movement in Hong Kong. If you happen to be residing outside the state, do visit Glutter.org for no-holds-barred opinions, otherwise absent from mainstream media.

On the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989:
It was an incomprehensible day because few and seldom days in history do we ever see a government launch a military attack on its own people. And in the backdrop students sang the “Internationale” and the residents of Beijing shouted “Ting Si, Ting Si” -Stop the killing, Stop the killing” as machine guns fired, people fell, tanks did not stop, and hospitals overflowed.

MASAMANIA
Masamania is a documenter of Japanese subculture, porn director and student of the English language. His blog is subsequently a hilarious melange of visual anecdotes, peppered with “Engrish” commentary on Tokyo’s neon underbelly. Possessing a keen eye for the weird and subversive, the level of photojournalism represented on this blog is not quite something you’ll see on Lonely Planet. It is, however, a through and through off-the-beaten-track guide to some of the stranger sights Tokyo has to offer.

Blog Quote:
“Hi, this is masamania who create this page, MasaManiA.com. This page is made up of photos I actually take in twon. I hope I can show and tell you the real, true Japan that cannot be seen in other mas media. I am living in Tokyo, Japan. I was born in Japan, grown up in Japan, study English in Japan. This is the reason I can speak Engrish. Some people complain that my updating and email response is slow. And other people conplain that my englsih is poor. Please forgive me. Now I study English hard, so i have no time to post new entry to my site. And I also update my site so hard, so i have no time to study English.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article contributed to Asia! Magazine Backpage
written by May Yip
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WIRED: Remix Planet

The current (July 2005) issue of one of my favourite magazines looks like a great read.

"Have you noticed? Everywhere you look, pop culture has been digitized, resequenced, and reassembled. Remixed. It started in music with hip hop samples and extended dance versions. It moved to movies, with director's cuts and Tarantino-style swipes from other films. Now it's spread to TV, games, music videos - even cars and fashion. From Kill Bill to Gorillaz, from custom Nikes to Pimp My Ride, this is the age of the remix."Wired Intro Quote

Gorillaz, Tarantino, Spock and more...
Wired.Com:Issue 13.07

Enjoy.

The K750i, Tiger And The Bluetooth Bug

I recently bought myself a spanking new phone - The K750i - one of Sony Ericsson's latest and greatest. I'm not one to swap phones every quarter but this nifty little device has really got me on the mobile gadget bug. New features I like include a 2Megapixel Camera (1 out of 2 shots look decent), a built-in MP3 and AAC audio player, Memory Stick Duo support (512MB for me) and a built-in video player (3GP and MP4 format). I have to admit that this is the first time that i have spent notable time listening to songs on a mobile phone. The sound quality is great.

The upgraded user interface, aside from nice eye-candy button effects, supprised me with its ease of use. I migrated over from my old and trusted Nokia fluently. The K750i also comes with a 262k colour TFT screen and features support for animated wallpaper, mp3 ring/alert tones and some handsome interface themes. I've got a Mac OSX Tiger installed on mine (Yes, I am a fruity evangelist).

Speaking of which, here's some software goodies and tricks for other Mac users with a Bluetooth bug like me...

Salling Clicker
A popular remote control utility for Macintosh computers. Great for client presentations, couch potatoes, audiophiles and Mac show-offs.

Make your Mac a Bluetooth Zombie
Another option (free) for your Sony Ericsson bluetooth phone.

BluePhoneElite
Caller ID and SMS functionality to your menu bar and desktop using your Bluetooth enabled phone.

MegaCellX
Manage contacts and SMSs of your mobile phone on your Mac.

PhoneAgent
Phonebook editing, SMS, MMS, Themes & File Exchange

Official Sony Ericsson Themes Creator
Easy creation of personalised themes for Sony Ericsson mobile phones.

Mac OS X 'Tiger' theme
Mac OS X 'Tiger' theme for Sony Ericsson K750i and other tidbits.

Apple iSync
Syncronize everything via Bluetooth on a Mac.

Enjoy and 'member to leave a penny for your bluetooth fairy.