Sunday, March 28, 2010
Reflections
"The main purpose of acquiring knowledge is to give it away" was a quote my dad picked up from an SMU advertisement back home in Singapore. And it rings true in my ears - more than an acceptable perspective to make meaning with the life direction I decided to take, it re-affirms another little bit of wisdom my mother used to share with me. It has shaped me into who I am today! It is originally in Mandarin, but when translated, it reads - "Helping others is the source of all true happiness".
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Facebook beats Google for visitors: tracker
Noteworthy stuff.
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Facebook beats Google for visitors: tracker
March 18, 2010 - 7:01AM
Source - The Age
Social-networking star Facebook surpassed Google to become the most visited website in the United States for the first time last week.
Facebook's homepage finished the week ending March 13 as the most visited site in the country, according to industry tracker Hitwise.
The "important milestone", as described by Hitwise director of research Heather Dougherty, came as Facebook enjoyed a massive 185 per cent increase in visits in the same period, compared to the same week in 2009.
By comparison, visits to search engine home Google.com increased only nine per cent in the same time - although the tracker does not include Google property sites such as the popular Gmail email service, YouTube and Google Maps.
Taken together, Facebook.com and Google.com amounted to 14 per cent of the entire US internet visits last week, Dougherty said.
Google has been positioning challenges in recent months to Facebook and the micro-blogging site Twitter by adding the social-networking feature Buzz to its Gmail service.
In what could signal an escalating battle between Facebook and Google, the leading social-networking service celebrated its sixth birthday earlier this year with changes including a new message inbox that echoes Gmail's format.
Facebook boasts some 400 million users while Gmail had 176 million unique visitors in December, according to tracking firm comScore.
AFP
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Facebook beats Google for visitors: tracker
March 18, 2010 - 7:01AM
Source - The Age
Social-networking star Facebook surpassed Google to become the most visited website in the United States for the first time last week.
Facebook's homepage finished the week ending March 13 as the most visited site in the country, according to industry tracker Hitwise.
The "important milestone", as described by Hitwise director of research Heather Dougherty, came as Facebook enjoyed a massive 185 per cent increase in visits in the same period, compared to the same week in 2009.
By comparison, visits to search engine home Google.com increased only nine per cent in the same time - although the tracker does not include Google property sites such as the popular Gmail email service, YouTube and Google Maps.
Taken together, Facebook.com and Google.com amounted to 14 per cent of the entire US internet visits last week, Dougherty said.
Google has been positioning challenges in recent months to Facebook and the micro-blogging site Twitter by adding the social-networking feature Buzz to its Gmail service.
In what could signal an escalating battle between Facebook and Google, the leading social-networking service celebrated its sixth birthday earlier this year with changes including a new message inbox that echoes Gmail's format.
Facebook boasts some 400 million users while Gmail had 176 million unique visitors in December, according to tracking firm comScore.
AFP
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Sinatra hit has deadly record
Scary stuff! "The lyrics evoke feelings of pride and arrogance in the singer, as if you're somebody when you're really nobody. It covers up your failures. That's why it leads to fights." I trust none of the songs the band and myself have written so far will evoke such feelings! Music is much better for celebrating, healing wounds, and of course, chasing girls. Hah!
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Sinatra hit has deadly record
Norimitsu Onishi, Philippines
The Age, February 8, 2010
It's not safe to sing My Way in karaoke bars.
AFTER a day of barbering, Rodolfo Gregorio went to his neighbourhood karaoke bar still smelling of talcum powder. Putting aside his glass of Red Horse Extra Strong beer, he grasped a microphone and briefly stilled the room with the Platters' My Prayer. Next, he belted out crowd-pleasers by Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck.
But Mr Gregorio, 63, a witness to countless fistfights and occasional stabbings erupting from disputes over karaoke singing, did not dare choose one beloved classic: Frank Sinatra's My Way.
''I used to like My Way, but after all the trouble, I stopped singing it,'' he said. ''You can get killed.''
The authorities do not know exactly how many people have been killed warbling My Way in karaoke bars over the years in the Philippines. But the media have recorded at least half a dozen victims in the past decade and include them in a subcategory of crime dubbed the ''My Way killings''.
The murders have spawned urban legends about the song and left Filipinos groping for answers. Are the killings a byproduct of the country's culture of violence, drinking and machismo? Or is there something inherently sinister in the song? Whatever the reason, many karaoke bars have removed the song from their playbooks.
Karaoke-related killings are not limited to the Philippines. In the past two years alone, a Malaysian man was fatally stabbed for monopolising the microphone at a bar and a Thai man killed eight of his neighbours in a rage after they sang John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads. And Filipinos, who pride themselves on their singing, may have a lower tolerance for bad singers.
Indeed, most of the My Way killings have reportedly occurred after the singer sang out of tune, causing other patrons to laugh or jeer.
''The trouble with My Way,'' said Mr Gregorio, ''is that everyone knows it and everyone has an opinion.''
Others point to the song itself. The lyrics, written by Paul Anka for Sinatra as an unapologetic summing up of his career, are about a tough guy who "when there was doubt", simply "ate it up and spit it out''.
'' 'I did it my way' - it's so arrogant," said Butch Albarracin, the owner of Centre for Pop, a Manila-based singing school that has propelled the careers of many famous singers.
"The lyrics evoke feelings of pride and arrogance in the singer, as if you're somebody when you're really nobody. It covers up your failures. That's why it leads to fights."
NEW YORK TIMES
---
Sinatra hit has deadly record
Norimitsu Onishi, Philippines
The Age, February 8, 2010
It's not safe to sing My Way in karaoke bars.
AFTER a day of barbering, Rodolfo Gregorio went to his neighbourhood karaoke bar still smelling of talcum powder. Putting aside his glass of Red Horse Extra Strong beer, he grasped a microphone and briefly stilled the room with the Platters' My Prayer. Next, he belted out crowd-pleasers by Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck.
But Mr Gregorio, 63, a witness to countless fistfights and occasional stabbings erupting from disputes over karaoke singing, did not dare choose one beloved classic: Frank Sinatra's My Way.
''I used to like My Way, but after all the trouble, I stopped singing it,'' he said. ''You can get killed.''
The authorities do not know exactly how many people have been killed warbling My Way in karaoke bars over the years in the Philippines. But the media have recorded at least half a dozen victims in the past decade and include them in a subcategory of crime dubbed the ''My Way killings''.
The murders have spawned urban legends about the song and left Filipinos groping for answers. Are the killings a byproduct of the country's culture of violence, drinking and machismo? Or is there something inherently sinister in the song? Whatever the reason, many karaoke bars have removed the song from their playbooks.
Karaoke-related killings are not limited to the Philippines. In the past two years alone, a Malaysian man was fatally stabbed for monopolising the microphone at a bar and a Thai man killed eight of his neighbours in a rage after they sang John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads. And Filipinos, who pride themselves on their singing, may have a lower tolerance for bad singers.
Indeed, most of the My Way killings have reportedly occurred after the singer sang out of tune, causing other patrons to laugh or jeer.
''The trouble with My Way,'' said Mr Gregorio, ''is that everyone knows it and everyone has an opinion.''
Others point to the song itself. The lyrics, written by Paul Anka for Sinatra as an unapologetic summing up of his career, are about a tough guy who "when there was doubt", simply "ate it up and spit it out''.
'' 'I did it my way' - it's so arrogant," said Butch Albarracin, the owner of Centre for Pop, a Manila-based singing school that has propelled the careers of many famous singers.
"The lyrics evoke feelings of pride and arrogance in the singer, as if you're somebody when you're really nobody. It covers up your failures. That's why it leads to fights."
NEW YORK TIMES
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Students walk 400 km to get to hometown
Inspiring!
- - -
Students walk 400 km to get to hometown
Source - AsiaOne, 02 Feb 2010
Two college students, who were short of funds, walked 400 km in seven days to reach Yongzhou, their hometown in the province, Changsha Evening News reported Friday.
Jiang Wenlong, 19, and Zhang Linghui, 20, both in their junior year in a college in Changsha, started walking on Jan 21 and reached Yongzhou on Jan 28.
They said they enjoyed the mega-marathon walk as they got a chance to absorb the beautiful scenery their province has to offer.
- - -
Students walk 400 km to get to hometown
Source - AsiaOne, 02 Feb 2010
Two college students, who were short of funds, walked 400 km in seven days to reach Yongzhou, their hometown in the province, Changsha Evening News reported Friday.
Jiang Wenlong, 19, and Zhang Linghui, 20, both in their junior year in a college in Changsha, started walking on Jan 21 and reached Yongzhou on Jan 28.
They said they enjoyed the mega-marathon walk as they got a chance to absorb the beautiful scenery their province has to offer.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
iphone effect: Urban Word of the Day
shortly after one person in the group brings out their iphone, the rest follow suit, ultimately ending all conversation and eye contact.
"Hey, what do you want to order for drinks?" "Not sure, let's see what Imbibe Magazine has for their best beer this month." First iphone comes out of the pocket--enter safari search. Next iphone comes out--enter Facebook post. Third iphone makes an entrance -- the iphone effect has arrived.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
pale blue dot.
from where, to where
who the hell knows
a pale blue dot
on a canvas of dark
everyone we have ever known
everything we have ever heard
every way there is to fathom
everyone we have yet to meet
a pale blue dot
on a canvas of dark
specks of bright so we can see at night
and that is where
we shall arrange to meet.
bob's take on this.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Seagulls and pride
Captured whilst having fish and chips by the bay. It was a massively cold summer day. Friend asked - these seagulls look like they are suffering in the cold - why? And there always seemed to be one leader up front. They took turns to battle to stand in front of formation.
My answer - pride. And we all laughed.
Check out the formation, and fuzzy feathers against the wind.
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