YouTube Link
Let's sing along to the NS Song. "NS is for everyone. NS is a crime. NS is a must for all. NS waste of time. Civil Defence and Police. Don't forget Armee. We cannot escape and we don't wanna go DB." Damn. This is funny and the Evil Bunny is cute.
(via Disgruntled Singaporean)
Dude successfully built a computer into his Toyota FJ. The Carputer as he calls it, has navigation, internet, plays mp3s, dvds, etc.
A blog about wet cats? Crikey! I thought the site describes itself best: "Damp Cats is teh ultimate collection of wet, soggy, undry and generally damp cats on the web. If there wasn't a market for this kind of content, we wouldn't have done it so it isn't US who are sick.'
There's more to Comex than just IT products and consumer electronic goods. Don't forget to check out the Comex Showgirls! I love Shinco! Ahem. Comex 2007 is on now till 2 September at the Suntec City Exhibition Centre. Admission is free.
(Thanks Johnny Q)
YouTube Link
This Simpsons Star Wars intro clip is so brilliantly done that you would be forgiven for thinking that it was made by the same folks that brought you The Simpsons. Doh! It's actually a parody done by animator Rich Cando.
Special Mission is a Metal Slug style flash game where you control a character to shoot enemy soldiers and rescue helpless bearded men. The instructions are in Chinese but I guess it's pretty straight forward to play. Lot's of fun!
(Thanks Mr Big)
I want to go to Singapore. I dont know anything about Singapore. I want to experience Singapore. What is there to do? I'm 18 years old.He has received some good replies but I like this one the best:
I'll be leaving late-December, and returning mid-January. Looking for cultural hints (e.g. greet everyone with 'Singapore Hello!') and tips on what to do. I'll be staying with aunt and uncle, but I can roam the city by myself.
Do not bring, buy, sell, or take illegal drugs while you are there.
I've been editing the Topix Singapore News page since few days ago. These are the Singapore news just posted today:
Separating bona fide fans from freeloaders: Not all anime programme downloaders in Singapore are equally at risk of being found liable for copyright infringement. Some of them will be in a stronger position than others to invoke the 'fair dealing' provisions of the Copyright Act. The challenge for the copyright owner is to separate the bona fide fans from the bogus freeloaders.Read them all at Topix Singapore News.
Singapore Medical Council in tiff with journal over right of reply: The Singapore Medical Council is taking issue with medical journal The Lancet for not running its letter rebutting allegations made against it in an article by a neurology professor sacked from his Singapore post in 2004.
Ports competition: Don't worry lah, Rafidah tells S'pore: Singapore need not worry about the development of Malaysia's ports and logistics services as a significant amount of goods were being brought in and sent out via Singapore.
Anti-malaria pills replaced after NS man's death: A common anti-malaria pill given to about 30,000 servicemen every year since 1985 has been taken off the inventory following the death of a full-time national serviceman who developed complications.
Lee Kuan Yew, founder of Singapore, changing with times: Vigorous and strong-minded and on the verge of his 84th birthday, Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew talked at length about his country's vulnerabilities, its slow movement toward a more open, worldly society and the influence of China, India and the United States in world affairs.
Photos documenting the first three months of a panda bear's growth. Awww. He is so cute!
(Thanks Shy)
Everyone's favourite Sith Lord, Darth Vader, is now part of the Transformers toy family! Presenting the Darth Vader Transformer. I must hand it to the Hasbro toy designers who came up with this idea. Darth Vader is a very popular character. And to have him transform to the Death Star is just brilliant. I think he looks far more menacing than Megatron. The Decepticon should have him as their new leader.
On Monday, I got my hands on the new HP Pavilion HDX Entertainment Series Notebook PC, aka the Dragon courtesy of the lovely folks at Hewlett-Packard Asia Pacific and Burson-Marsteller (SEA). Btw, if you're a company planning to start a blogger relations program, you just have to look at what HP together with BM are doing - they are first class! This is my second time working with them. The first time was for the HP iPaq rw8828. Ok, back to the Dragon. I was told that I'm the first blogger in the region to use it. What a huge honour aye! The Dragon is not even out in the market yet. It will be launched sometime middle of next month, if I'm not wrong. Here are some pictures first:
The Dragon is the most awesome notebook I've ever used. Will blog more about my experience using it. Anyway, the strangest thing happened when I brought the Dragon home. The Toshiba notebook that I'm currently using refuse to work as soon as the Dragon got into my study. I got a feeling that the Dragon does have the ability to make other notebooks jealous. Hmmm.
YouTube Link
Over at Moesham, a hair saloon in Akihabara, Tokyo, you get your hair cut and cleaned by maids in frilly aprons and bonnets. Check out their maids here. The saloon is targeting otakus and people who obviously have a maid fetish.
Dude teaches you how to track your life - everything you see, feel, think, discover, do, hear, and read - by using index cards. It's like blogging minus blogs! Kinda like old school diary writing but supposedly improves your productivity and creativity in daily life. Flickr set here.
Photo by cosmosjon.
A total eclipse of the moon will be visible today for those in North and South America, the Pacific, eastern Asia and Australia. Unfortunately for us in Singapore and our neighbours, totality will be over when the moon is about to rise. Darn! Click the following link for maps and eclipse timings. From NASA:
August's lunar eclipse is well-placed for North and South America as well as the Pacific, eastern Asia and Australia. All of North America will witness some portion of the eclipse, but western observers are favored. The early umbral phases will be in progress at moonset for observers in Maritime Canada. From the eastern USA, the Great Lakes region and Ontario, the Moon sets in total eclipse. Only observers to the west of the Rockies (including Alaska) will be treated to the entire event. All phases of the eclipse are also visible from islands of the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand and eastern Australia. Various stages of the eclipse are in progress at moonrise for eastern Asia. No eclipse is visible from Europe, Africa and western Asia.Those who are living in countries where the total lunar eclipse isn't visible, can head to Discovery Channel's Live Streaming of the eclipse from 5.30pm. Discovery Channel Asia (Starhub Cable TV Channel 12) will also have a 2 hour moon special featuring documentaries "95 Worlds and Counting" and "If We Had No Moon" from 5pm.
Check out the Field Guide to Office Workers to find out what kind of people are working together with you in the office. I'm in the Smoke Breakers group but minus the obnoxious odour, of course.
This Classic Cassette Bag looks so damn retro cool that I don't mind carrying one, eventhough it is for ladies. The bag even has handles that look like tape coming out of the cassette.
(Thanks Larry A)
A 4 1/2 foot fossilized penis belonged to a walrus, believed to be one of the biggest in the world, has been sold to Ripley's for $9,600. From MSNBC:
Although it is believed to be the biggest ever found, the Walrus member sold for
less than the $12,000 to $16,000 it was expected to go for.
"I'm glad the penis went to Ripley, so everybody will have an opportunity to see it. It is definitely interesting," Chait said. "It's one of the biggest penises in the world as far as I know."
It was discovered in the frozen tundra of Siberia and dates back 12,000 years to the Pleistocene Period. The mammal's manhood is mummified, with a layer of perfectly preserved skin intact, according to Chait.
I saw this in my neighbourhood. Didn't know there's a shortage of basketball courts in Singapore.
Metacafe Video Link
Amazing video showing how Photoshop can be used to transform a fat girl into a sexy chick. Wow!
The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety in the US has been doing crash tests on various car models to determine their safety performance. Watch the videos of the crash tests here. Lots of car models to choose from.
The 40 storey Umeda Sky Building in Osaka, Japan has the world's highest escalator which connects the building's two towers. Pictures here.
Here's a necklace that every girl gamer would want to wear. The necklace has a 2 faced pendant - one side has a feminine cherry blossom design while the other has a classic Nintendo NES controller!
(Thanks mistyz)
YouTube Link
I think I should go to Japan, find my favourite Jap girl Risa Niigaki and Miwa Asao, Japan's sexy beach volleyball player, and propose to them both. LOL. The 21 year old Asao has set off a new craze for the sport in her country. It's not hard to see why. She's so hot aye! Check out those, mmm... hands of hers. Ahem. Here's another video. Dang! I wanna take up beach volleyball soon.
I was browsing the cartoons section at HMV CityLink and guess what I found?
These gems!
![P23-07-07_11.21[01]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1330/1220761827_82fd5f443f.jpg)
He-Man, She-Ra, Visionaries and Transformers - my favourite cartoons from the 80s on DVD! I love HMV!
Related: Watch intro clips of 1980's cartoons
I've just added Astrona to my bookmarks. The blog contains a collection of artists resources and developers who's specialising in space and astronomical art, science fiction art, visions of future worlds, design and visualization of technologies for living in space, space exploration, spaceships, starships, space colonies, etc. Lots of out of this world artwork to marvel at.
Here's another reason why Singapore Airlines is the best airlines in the world. It is putting a Linux PC in every seat of its newest planes - even the economy seats! From Linux World:
The latest version of KrisWorld is based on Panasonic Avionics Corp.'s eX2 in-flight entertainment system and was jointly developed by the two companies. The system consists of a central Linux server that connects to a network of PCs installed in every seat on the aircraft. The KrisWorld software offers an improved user interface and each economy-class seat is fitted with a 10.6-inch LCD (liquid crystal display) screen that offers resolution of 1,280 pixels by 768 pixels.
They are larger in business and first class, where each seat comes with a 15.4-inch and 23-inch screen, respectively...
KrisWorld can also be used as a PC and includes Sun Microsystems Inc.'s StarOffice application suite, which offers a word processor, spreadsheet, and a presentation program. Every seat is fitted with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port that lets passengers access documents carried on a thumb drive or portable hard disk. The port can also be used to connect a USB keyboard or mouse, making it easier for business travellers to create and edit documents without having to dig out their laptops and power cords.
I can hear a lot of otakus and Odex haters in Singapore rejoicing at this amazing news. From AsiaOne:
In a court ruling, a judge has decided that Pacific Internet (PacNet) does not have to reveal names of subscribers who allegedly downloaded pirated versions of the Japanese cartoons to Japanese anime distributor Odex.Finally, a judge who isn't afraid to rule the right way! Kudos to the judge and PacNet for standing firm against Odex.
Odex has been demanding the names of up to 1000 PacNet downloaders.
This latest ruling has raised eyebrows because two other Internet service providers (ISP) - SingNet and StarHub - were earlier ordered to give up the names of their subscribers accused of similar violations.
There are a lot of cool computer mods at this year's Case Mod Contest but I like this one best - the Optimus Prime PC. Even the eyes glow. So cool! I want one!
(Thanks GeekGod)
Who's Superman? Cover Browser takes a look at the comics that revealed Superman's secret identity. Seriously, I don't understand why people can't tell that Clark Kent is Superman just because he takes off his glasses everytime he dons the blue spandex.
These abstract sculptures are pretty amazing but what's more amazing is that they are made of paper. It's origami on steroids!
(Thanks bosque)
Photos of the Beach Volleyball Babies performing their dance routine at the 2007 FIVB Beach Volleyball Women’s Challenger held at the Chaoyang Park in Beijing. Yummy!
(Thanks xXx)
I have yet to download Google Earth since it was released but I guess I will be doing it right away because Google just announced a new feature that enables users to view the sky as seen from planet Earth. Now that's what I've been waiting for! From the press release:
With Sky, users can now float through the skies via Google Earth. This easy-to-use tool enables all Earth users to view and navigate through 100 million individual stars and 200 million galaxies. High resolution imagery and informative overlays create a unique playground for visualizing and learning about space.
To access Sky, users need only click "Switch to Sky" from the "view" drop-down menu in Google Earth, or click the Sky button on the Google Earth toolbar. The interface and navigation are similar to that of standard Google Earth steering, including dragging, zooming, search, "My Places," and layer selection.
As part of the new feature, Google is introducing seven informative layers that illustrate various celestial bodies and events:
Constellations - From Cassiopeia to Andromeda, the Constellations layer connects the points of constellations through space, labeling each with its given name. Users can learn about the stars that make up their favorite constellations.
Backyard Astronomy - The Backyard Astronomy layer lets users click through a variety of placemarks and information on stars, galaxies, and nebulae visible to the eye, binoculars and small telescopes. This layer is useful for the amateur astronomer who may benefit from a comprehensive, organized way to reference fragments of the night sky.
Hubble Space Telescope Imagery - The HST layer provides users with over 120 high-resolution images provided by the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA/ESA's renowned orbiting telescope.
Moon - The Moon layer displays animations of two months of both lunar positions and moon phases.
Planets - The Planets layer illustrates the seven official planets and their positions in the sky two months into the future.
Users Guide to Galaxies - The Users Guide to Galaxies layer enables users to go on virtual tours through different types of galaxies, from Ursa Minor Dwarf to the Milky Way.
Life of a Star - The Life of a Star layer takes the user on a tour through the different stages of a star's life cycle.
A group of joggers at the Singapore River were stopped by the police because they are gays. From Yawning Bread:
So there they were early on Saturday morning, 10 of them. Most were lurking in the shadows, but it was obvious to Miak, Ethan and the rest that they were the police. One of them in the shadows might have been the officer in charge. According to one of the runners, that guy was quite senior in the police force. The runner recognised him as an old classmate.Here's another report of the run. Crikey! Singapore: a free and open society? Maybe not so when you are gay. I don't see why those people are not allowed to do the run as a group. It's not as if they run around shouting "Gay sex is the best!" or "Let's all be gays!". I'm beginning to think that our police force has nothing better to do nowadays. Maybe crime rate is down. Not many murder cases, etc. So let's harass these gay joggers then. Geeesh.
After identifying himself, Kelvin Yeo informed Ethan that the run would be considered an offence under the Miscellaneous Offences Act. Ethan asked him to cite the specific section, but Kelvin was unable to. Instead, the officer said it would be considered an illegal assembly.
At some point, Ng Yi-Sheng, one of the runners, walked up to join Ethan, to act as a witness to the conversation. He was shooed away by the police.
Since the police had declared it an illegal assembly, Ethan told Kelvin he would cancel the Pink Run. "But as individuals, they can run, right?"
Both Kelvin and the female officer beside him said yes.
YouTube Link
"We the dizizens of Singapore..." So cute! 2 year old Rachel says the Singapore pledge way better than I can.
(Thanks Mr Big)
This is a gem! Ronald McDonald starred in his very own comic book published by Charlton Comics in the 70s. We all know Ronald is a clown, and clowns are dumb, but I think drawing him with birds making a nest on his head, makes him look even more stupid. No wonder McDonald's decided to cancel the comic. More stupid comics here.
Sluts are cheap but I didn't know they are this cheap. Slut for only $6.25? Wow! Take a look at this receipt. At Raffles Hotel's Seah Street Deli, the Slut is even cheaper than Peanut Butter Jelly! So now you know where to get your cheap slut aye.
(via Tomorrow.sg)
Ivy of Bollywood Veggies wrote to me recently to highlight a potential problem happening in our countryside:
We seek your support in helping us save our Countryside. The Kranji Countryside is the last remaining natural oasis left in Singapore, that has not been blemished by skyscrapers or anything remotely related to the building of skyscrapers.Help her out will ya? Here's the link to the petition. I've been to the Kranji Countryside once last year. I was there to check out Bollywood Veggies. It's so lovely and peaceful there. I even fell in love with the entire area. Let's hope the dumping of granite there will not pollute the land.
If the govt were to go ahead with the dumping of granite on arable land, earmarked for agriculture, the soil will be permanently damaged, and will be deemed useless. The natural surroundings in the area will become polluted, neighbouring farms will be affected by silica contamination, and the peace and tranquility that us as Singaporeans come to the Countryside for, will diminish.
If you care about what happens to the Countryside, to your future or your children's future, where food is concerned, then please log on to our online petition and support our cause.
Remember these? Boy, I sure miss them. Tapedeck.org currently has 138 audio tape cassettes from the likes of Agfa, Sony and TDK.
This is fun! Help the Super Chick Sisters rescue Pamela Anderson from the evil Colonel Sanders and his KFC minions in this Mario-like flash game by PETA. You can download the game to your computer too.
(Thanks GeekGod)
If David Copperfield can do it, so can JC Sum. Recently, the local magician teleported himself from the ground to the roof of the 50 storey OUB Centre. From JC Sum:
The venue was Raffles Place, the heart of the business district in Singapore. The skyscraper that J C teleported was the iconic OUB Centre.I love magicians like David Copperfield and David Blaine. It's nice to have a home grown talent in this field. There's one illusion that I would like JC Sum to try. I remember David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty vanish once. Maybe JC Sum can do a similar vanishing trick on one of our tall buildings like the Swissotel or the Merlion at Sentosa.
J C vanished from a specially constructed elevated launch platform that was literally surrounded by thousands of spectators on street level.
Seconds later, he made an incredible reappearance on an identical teleportation platform on the 50-storey roof terrace of OUB Centre. This reappearance platform was surrounded by a committee of witnesses that included audience members and pre-selected individuals that included lawyers, media professionals and radio personalities.
The entire teleportation took less than 5 seconds to complete. That’s right; 50 floors of time and space covered in less than 5 seconds!
The illusion occurred in real time and the entire audience witnessed the illusion live, assisted by giant video screens throughout the venue.
![P05-08-07_16.44[01]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1303/1156359417_d85e984a8e.jpg)
![P05-08-07_16.45[02]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1195/1156362899_dd5a1a1091.jpg)
I saw this dope matchbox set called "The Top 10 Marshalls" during a recent trip to Chinatown. The Chinese Marshalls featured on these matchboxes are all dead.
There are two cracking games this Premiership weekend - Man City vs Man Utd and Liverpool vs Chelsea! From The Football Pundit:
Liverpool vs Chelsea: Chelsea will lose defender Carvalho tonight so it will be interesting to see if they bring John Terry back for this game. I think that's their only "problem" tonight. Liverpool will be at their full strength. Gerrard will play despite fracturing his toe. I have not been convinced by Chelsea so far. I think they will concede goals this season and teams playing them do not see them as invincible as they were two seasons ago.
BBC Pundit Mark Lawrenson's prediction: 1-1
The Football Pundit says: 2-1
The Australian Defence Force hopes that its new kick ass gaming portal will help recruit more youths into the Army, Navy and Air Force. Defence Jobs Games is really one hell of an amazing site. There are 6 cool games to play. You can keep track of all your gaming experience, battle online with others and make your way up the ladder with achievements and player ranks. I have yet to play all the games but I can tell you now that I'm hooked on Battleships Extreme. I reckon it's the mother of all Battleship games!
Ghost Hunter Dax is a 3D animation co-produced by Singapore's Studio Bizarro and Infinite Frameworks and Canada's Mainframe. The show is currently in the beginning of pre-production stages and is slated to hit televisions in late 2007 or early 2008. Ghost Hunter Dax is a story about a bi-racial Chinese American boy who moves to China with his family only to find that he's the decendant of an ancient Chinese ghost hunter named Zhong Kui. Due to his relation to the ghost hunter, he ends up having to take up the mantle and go into the Land of Shadows and vanquish the threatening evil forces that lurk there. Watch the cool trailer here.
This children's book is about a young boy who was unhappy at home because his parents fought all the time and his dad did not spend time with him. One day, his uncle came over to his place and taught him some lessons about the male body. LOL. Then he grew up thinking he was gay. Highly disturbing children's book.
(via lancerlord)
The USB Tie (product page in Japanese) is perfect for you guys who are feeling hot and grouchy in the office. Just put the tie on, plug it into your computer and you will feel much cooler thanks to the built in fan.
Dude plays the theme for the animated TV series "The Flintstones" by squeezing air through his hands. You can watch his other works here. This little known art is called Manualism. It is extremely difficult to do and one can take many years of practice to master it. From Wikipedia:
Just as a trumpeter makes sound by blowing air between the lips, a manualist makes sound by squeezing air between two hands.
The hands are held together, trapping a pocket of air between the two palms. Using the fingers of the dominant hand, the air is squeezed out the top, between the base of the thumb and the opposite hand, to form a musical note. The pitch is determined by the force used to hold the hands together. The tighter the grip, the higher the note.
Bass notes may be produced by squeezing the air pocket out the opposite side, near the pinky finger.
Even with years of practice, manualism is very difficult to control. It may be one of the hardest "instruments" in the world to play, and live stage performances are extremely rare.
A couple in China has decided to get creative and name their baby "@", the symbol used in email address. From Shanghai Daily:
Translated into Chinese @ means "love him," the couple said, according to Li Yuming, deputy director of the State Language Commission.
Li did not say whether @ has been given the green light.
However, if it is approved the child will have terrible trouble when it comes time to receive email - @@ just won't compute.
The Chinese language has no alphabet, instead using thousands of multi-stroke characters to represent words.
The "@" symbol is familiar to Chinese email users and they often use the English word "at" to sound it out. With a drawn-out "t," @ sounds something like ai ta, or "love him," to Mandarin speakers.
Those of you reading this up north in Kuala Lumpur, don't forget to catch Animax Fashion-Ability, the first-ever fashion design competition organised by Animax for all students in Malaysia, this Saturday at One Utama, High Street from 2pm till 8pm.
Students were invited to use their imagination with the inspiration of the hit fashion anime, PARADISE KISS, as their guiding light and submit their designs based on butterfly and flower motifs.
On Saturday, Animax will be showcasing the top finalists in their bid for the top prize which consists of a cool RM3500 cash from Animax, Bausch & Lomb Education Sponsorship worth RM8000 and 1 year F.A.C.T scholarship worth RM18,000. Check out the cool designs by the finalists here.
Oh, not only did the aspiring designers have to produce their apparels in just 3 weeks, they had to work with aspiring models, all of them without any prior modelling experience. Two days ago, I had the privilege of looking at those models and oh boy, they are hot! Ahem.
So guys and gals, you got to check out those hot models and the cool outfits by the finalists at One Utama this Saturday aye. The event will be a blast!
I love sandwiches, especially my favourite egg and chicken mayo sandwich from Delifrance, but these sandwiches are just too cute for me or anyone else to eat aye.
Here's a miniature Japanese sex doll set that you can abuse and eat! Comes with a hand stick for you to do your groping. I think the middle part of the doll is made of jelly. (Link may not be safe for work - contains doll nudity)
(Thanks xXx)
Artist Shawn Barber draws amazing oil, acrylic and water colour paintings of sad and creepy looking dolls. Really spooky stuff. I like.
(Thanks Enid)
I've been waiting for someone in our local papers to write a different perspective to the Odex saga. I had enough of Odex saying downloading is bad, downloading affects their sales number, blah, blah, blah. So it's a welcomed surprise today to read a Straits Times (yup ST!) story by writer Andy Ho. In it, he says that downloading fansub anime may not be illegal. From Asiaone:
Under Singapore's law, copying is permitted for educational and news reporting purposes (as well as other specified ones). But only an unimaginative reading of the law would conclude anime downloading is clearly illegal.Previously:
A 2004 amendment to the copyright law here introduced a new, open-ended exception to make it possible for copying - in whole or part - to be construed as fair use depending on five factors.
First, is the work copied creative in nature or not (like a phone directory)? Secondly, how much is copied? Thirdly, is the copying for profit?
Clearly, anime is creative work and fans copy the whole work, but they don't do it for profit. Even Article 38 of Japan's own copyright law allows parties to 'distribute by wire a work already broadcast for non-profit purposes'.
Fourthly, can the work be obtained within a reasonable time at an ordinary commercial price? The most popular anime titles take about six to eight months to be released here on VCDs or DVDs but they are now competitively priced when they do appear here.
The fifth and final consideration is the effect of copying upon the work's potential market here. That is, the anime firm must show that future harm is very likely, not that actual harm has occurred. Local fans say they do go online to buy anime DVDs from foreign distributors. US experience suggests that this is not all empty talk.
Fan activity is more akin to taping a show from TV than pirates doing it off a cinema screen. Clearly, taping movies off TV has not led to pervasive and huge home libraries and history shows that sales of movies on tape and DVD have not been impacted by the video cassette recorder.
The upshot: Fan activities could well be building a market for anime here.
I think the flavours of some of the drinks in Japan are getting weirder and weirder. Take a look at these wasabi and curry flavoured drinks (product page in Japanese) by Kimura. Who wants to drink a curry or wasabi drink? Definitely not me!
Here's a collection of nerd watches - vintage digital watches made by the likes of Casio and Citizen. I used to have a few of these when I was a kid. I remember back then it was so damn cool for us boys to show off these watches to the rest of our friends.
Couple got married in real life and immediately after that, they exchanged their wedding vows in the game Everquest! I especially love the Storm Trooper wedding march led by none other than Darth Vader. Watch the video here.
The Football Pundit continues his battle with BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson. From The Football Pundit:
Portsmouth vs Manchester United: Man Utd needs to win this one after surprisingly drawing their first game with Reading. They are without Wayne Rooney which is a big blow but Teves looks like he will get his debut. I am still not convinced of Man Utd's system of playing Teves or Rooney upfront alone but they will have too much quality for Porstmouth who looked very shaky in their opening game.
BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson's prediction: 1-1
The Football Pundit says : 0-2
Odex doesn't look like it will stop its efforts to pursue anime downloaders in Singapore. In the latest news, the company says it has won a suit against Starhub to release the names of 1000 of its subscribers that have been downloading anime illegally. From AsiaOne:
StarHub had earlier resisted Odex's efforts to obtain the data, citing "an obligation to protect our customers' information."Let's say Odex is able to get $5000 from each downloader. Hmm, that means it stands to get $5 million max, from those 1000 illegal downloaders - and that's not counting the other downloaders using Singnet or PacNet. No wonder those guys from Odex are desperate to take this drastic action. It's all about the money.
"In the instance of Odex, they have satisfied the court of their need for the information. As such, we will comply with the court order," said StarHub spokesman Michael Sim.
Once Odex obtains the identities of the Internet users alleged to have downloaded the anime videos, the company will likely contact them and seek compensation of up to 5,000 Singapore dollars from each, Odex Director Stephen Sing said. The users will also have to destroy any stolen content and stop further illegal downloading.
"Singapore's downloading situation is very bad," Sing said. "We have engaged companies to track illegal downloads in Singapore, and ratio-wise, we're actually right up there in the illegal downloads in the world, in terms of Japanese animation."
I think in the not too distant future, man will no longer need a woman for sex. Just look at the Honey Dolls from Japan. These almost life-like sex dolls, are now equipped with sensors that will produce all the moans, groans and orgasm sounds that one would love to hear from a woman during sex. Damn the Japanese! (Link not safe for work - contains doll nudity.)
Dude has 3/4 of his left arm tattooed with art from Nintendo's Super Mario. Awesome pics here. He's also going to get a full length Zelda sleeve tattoo on his right arm and then fill the last 1/4 of his left arm with some more Mario goodies. Cool!
All aspiring wizards need a wand like Harry Potter's. Well you can't go around casting the Expecto Patronum spell without one aye? So here's how you can make your very own wizard wand using a piece of paper, glue and some paint. Finally you can have a wand that even Harry Potter himself will be proud of.
I don't really like to make fun of what people are wearing but I cringed then laughed when I saw this photo. Crikey! That must be the world's tightest pair of jeans he's wearing. You can even see the shape of his willy clearly.
(Thanks xXx)
The Hair Archives has pictures of female hairstyles from the 20s to 70s. Great for ladies who are interested in the retro look. There are styling instructions for some of the hairstyles too.
The special website in commemoration of the 40 years of National Service has an interesting page about personal appearance standard of NS Men with pictures of the various acceptable haircuts for males. Kinda reminds me of the North Korea hair rules. I like the part about the moustache: "If a moustache is worn it is to be kept neatly trimmed and of moderate length. No portion is to fall below the upper lip line or extend sideways beyond a vertical line drawn upward from the corner of the mouth."
(Thanks ANG)
It looks like the "Odex vs Singapore anime fans" saga has taken a new twist. Reader Sailesh (some handsome photos of him here proudly showing off his new Action Ladfigure Inc T-shirt courtesy of San Street) writes to me in an email:
Do you remember the news about this anime distributor called Odex fining people for downloading anime? Even a 9-year-old got caught!Wow! Great work by those people at the Hardware Zone forums - just like CSI aye. Anyway, even if the allegations above aren't true, I think the whole thing has already become a huge public relations disaster for the people at Odex.
So anyway, some guys at HardwareZone found out that the Odex director, Stephen Sing has actually been bragging and laughing about catching downloaders! A description is here.
And we've pretty much confirmed that xysing is Stephen Sing himself. Such unethical behavior, don't you think? Imagine a police officer catching a criminal and then taunting and laughing at the criminal after that!
The local anime community at HWZ is shocked and angry at his remarks. Those who were called up by Odex said that Mr Sing mentioned that he had 'no choice' when it came to persecuting the downloaders. But from Mr Sing's posts, he actually appears to be enjoying it! We at HWZ are outraged enough to want to spread the word about his remarks.
More proof here. And the HWZ thread is here.
I think Little Guilin has got to be one of the most beautiful places you can find in Singapore. Little Guilin is a granite hill sitting within a lake. Located near Bukit Batok East Avenue 5, it is named after China's Guilin, a place famous for its heavenly landscapes.
(Photos and video taken with the beautiful LG Shine)
Lady in India accidentally inhaled a condom during oral sex and didn't know about it for months. From NCBI:
A 27-year-old lady presented with persistent cough, sputum and fever for the preceding six months. Inspite of trials with antibiotics and anti-tuberculosis treatment for the preceeding four months, her symptoms did not improve. A subsequent chest radiograph showed non-homogeneous collapse-consolidation of right upper lobe. Videobronchoscopy revealed an inverted bag like structure in right upper lobe bronchus and rigid bronchoscopic removal with biopsy forceps confirmed the presence of a condom. Detailed retrospective history also confirmed accidental inhalation of the condom during fellatio.Tell me. How the hell does one accidentally inhale a condom? Crikey! Remember ladies, next time when you perform a fellatio and the guy has a condom on, please make sure you don't inhale or swallow the condom.
Here are some interesting pics of Science Tattoos sent by readers of The Loom, a Science blog. I like this one the best. It's a photo of a dude who has a doc. in Physics, getting a tattoo of the entire solar system! If someone can do a miniature (and I really mean MINIATURE) version of this solar system tattoo, I may consider having it somewhere on my body.
I want my very own sexy Stormtrooper, preferably with tattoos. More pics here. Note to self: Must give Darth Vader a call sometime soon.
(via Boing Boing)
Is this the ultimate machine gun? It sure looks like it. The machine gun comes with with a MAG light, dinnerware set, Swiss Army knife, high intensity flood light and a bird sculpture. There's even a compass and you can also hook your bunch of keys too. The only thing that is missing is some blink blink. Hehe. Maybe the SAF should issue this machine gun to our army boys.
The Football Pundit, a new local blog about the English Premier League, gives an analysis of all the teams in the competition. From The Football Pundit:
Manchester United: Sir Alex has bought very good players this season. I think Nani will complement Ronaldo on the wings. Teves will be a great signing and Hargreaves will provide them with the much needed steel in midfield. It's a pity they do no sign a quality player at the back and an out and out striker. They need to get Saha fit because I think Man U play their best football with one out an out striker partnered by a creative Cantona or Sheringham-like forward. Partnering Rooney and Teves up front will not be a wise thing as both of them are similar players. If Ronaldo can play as brilliantly as he did last season, Man U will be unstoppable this season.Don't forget the English Premier League starts tonight. First game shown live is my beloved Spurs against Sunderland. Yay! Come on you Spurs!
They have too much firepower upfront for any teams. Will convincingly win the Premiership this season.
Wanna see some shooting stars? Go to somewhere dark this weekend and enjoy the Perseid meteor shower. Let's just hope the weather is good. Looks pretty cloudy so far. From Sky and Telescope:
The meteor rate increases to roughly 30 per hour in the predawn hours on Saturday, 45 per hour on Sunday morning, and 80 per hour before the sky starts to get light on Monday morning. That's for a single observer at a dark-sky site in the north temperate latitudes.You don't need a telescope or binoculars to enjoy a meteor shower. Just lie down comfortably and look up at the night sky.
Perseid meteors are visible in every part of the sky. But wherever you see them, they appear to be moving away from the shower's radiant point near the Perseus/Cassiopeia border. This is a perspective effect, happening for the same reason that snowflakes appear to stream away from the center of the road when you're driving through a snowstorm.
On any given night, activity starts slowly in the evening but picks up by 11 p.m., when the radiant gets reasonably high in the sky. The meteor rate increases steadily through the night as the radiant rises higher, peaking just before the sky starts to get light, roughly 1½ to 2 hours before sunrise.
Dude photographs mutant roots, vegetables and fruits found at Berlin's farmers markets. Called the Mutato-Project, it serves to document and archive these last survivors of biological variety.
Root Beer Float + Cupcake = Root Beer Float Cupcake! Yummy!! Something for you guys and gals to make over the weekend. Recipe included in the link.
I think it's about time that I add the likes of dried plums, pumpkin seeds and cabbage to my daily diet if I want to do my body a world of good. So should you. From Men's Health:
Cabbage
Absent from most American kitchens, this cruciferous vegetable is a major player in European and Asian diets.
Why it's healthy: One cup of chopped cabbage has just 22 calories, and it's loaded with valuable nutrients. At the top of the list is sulforaphane, a chemical that increases your body's production of enzymes that disarm cell-damaging free radicals and reduce your risk of cancer. In fact, Stanford University scientists determined that sulforaphane boosts your levels of these cancer-fighting enzymes higher than any other plant chemical.
How to eat it: Put cabbage on your burgers to add a satisfying crunch. Or, for an even better sandwich topping or side salad, try an Asian-style slaw.
I'm not a vegetarian but I've just added Yummy Vegan Dinners to my RSS reader. It is a delightful food blog written by a Canadian vegan girl living in the U.S. with her vegan boy. Just looking at the photos of the vegetarian food she cooks such as this delicious soft tacos and rice, is enough to make me hungry.
Singapore celebrated its 42nd birthday yesterday! For those of you who missed the fireworks, take a look at the video above by kennethteo80 and these two: here and here. There are also nice photos of the National Day Parade on Flickr. Check out these photosets: here (commandos on the bridge!), here (images taken off the TV), here (fireworks) and here.
(Thanks Mr Big, Shy, cece)
R.I.P Glen Angus. I was totally blown away when I first saw his artwork, the Victory Gals. I was shocked and saddened to find out that he passed away recently. It's a pity because he had the makings of a truly great artist and from what I read on the forums, he was a nice dude too.
Unicorns are real and they are even mentioned in the bible nine times! I kid you not. The folks at the Unicorn Museum don't really want you to believe that but they do want to poke fun at the Creation Museum, a religious-based institution that believes the universe is 6000 years old and that Adam walked with dinosaurs. They want your help. Submit your ideas for a Unicorn Museum billboard design. The design voted most popular will be placed on a billboard near the location of the Creation Museum. Ha! They are also looking for donations.
Pee & Poo are cuddly toys that resemble the two waste products of our body - the urine and the shit. They are so surprisingly popular that they even have their own clothing line - socks, t-shirts and underwear!
Flickr user blazemongr was quick to add his humour to the Giant LEGO Man that was fished out of the sea in a Dutch resort recently. He changed the words on his chest, "No Real Than You Are" to "Ha! Ha! You just caught teh geh" and "You make LEGO Man scared!".
No one really knows where the Giant LEGO Man came from. Some suspected it could be from England. From ABC News:
"We saw something bobbing about in the sea and we decided to take it out of the water," said a stall worker. "It was a life-sized Lego toy."More pics here. I just hope this is not a sign of an impending Earth invasion by an army of Giant LEGO Men. That's scary aye.
A woman nearby added: "I saw the Lego toy floating towards the beach from the direction of England."
YouTube Link
Inside the Happiness Factory is an animated documentary based on a Coca Cola TV ad made by the folks at Wieden+Kennedy and Psyop. The documentary gives us a behind-the-scenes peek at the Happiness Factory. Real Coca-Cola employees were interviewed and their responses were used for the animated factory workers. I think this is so brilliantly done that I would pay to watch it in the cinema if it was a full length animated movie. Hmmm. Maybe that's something that Coke should consider.
Dude makes amazing LEGO World War II warplanes like this Boeing B17 Flying Fortress. You can view all his LEGO creations here.
With the Celebrator, the electric toothbrush will never be the same again. The Celebrator is an extension piece that you place on the electrical toothbrush which vibrates with its movements. It instantly converts your toothbrush into a sex toy.
(Thanks xXx)
A new Guiness Book world record was set recently for the the world's fastest car powered by 192 Panasonic batteries. The mini car which weighs only 38kg, reached a top speed of 122km/h and had an overall speed of 105.95 km/h.
At the Premiere with the one and only Optimus Prime.
Yesterday, I watched Transformers with my SIA Girl mates. It's rare to have all of them free on the same afternoon so when they asked (more like forced) me along to watch Transformers with them, I gladly said yes. BTW, that's my fourth time watching Transformers! Yup, I'm officially a crazy Transformers fanboy now.
Watching with a bunch of girls who have no clue about the Transformers is some experience. They kept asking questions like "who is Optimus Prime?", "what is a Decepticon?" and "are Autobots evil?". I had to do lots of explaining throughout the movie (and after). And boy, they sure were noisy. Some of the folks sitting beside us even had to move seats.
Despite their lack of Transformers knowledge, they enjoyed the movie a lot. They even said it's the best movie they watched this year - that's a compliment from a bunch of girls who don't really like the normal guy type movies. Now I should transform, roll out and get ready for my fifth. Ok, I'm joking.
Mikoishi Studio, a Singapore-based developer has just announced that its new game Dropcast will be shipping to Japan by year's end. Dropcast is the first made in Singapore game for the Nintendo DS. It supports four-player local competitions with a single card, as well as four-player matches online. There are three multiplayer battle modes and four single-player modes to choose from.
This Japanese site sells the craziest looking watches I have ever seen. For example, this one pictured on the left has the watch face near your thumb instead of on your wrist and it has a lot of other crazy looking contraptions.
More than 200 posters mostly designed by Polish designers since 1940 in this nice gallery. There are also some posters done by Czech and Cuban designers. I don't know why but somehow this poster titled "Bachelor Life in a Foreign Country" is my favourite.
(Thanks finatiq)
It's tough being a police officer in Thailand. If you are not disciplined, you will be made to wear this ridiculous pink Hello Kitty armband issued by the country's Crime Suppression Division. The armband is intended to force a feeling of guilt and discourage the policeman from repeating the offence. You can call it the Hello Kitty Armband of Shame.
Dude was issued a challenge to draw 200 bad comics. So he obliged. Yay! Take your time while you read and enjoy all 200.
(Thanks Jim)
This is Oliver Monster, designed by 4 year old Niko. Oliver loves pink and really wants to grow his hair out long when he gets big and be a princess. Oliver has no arms and legs, but that's ok. Everyone is different. More cute monsters here.
Previously: Make your own plush monster kit
This USB keyboard by Angel Kitty (site in Japanese) is one of a kind - it's wearable! I would like to have one to make my daily PC experience more enjoyable but I guess I may need a cute Japanese girl to complete the package.
(via Cowboy Caleb)
T-shirt and jeans by Zero Hour (more: here and here). Get yours today at San Street (outlets at Suntec City and Queensway Shopping Centre).
(Disclosure: I'm the Brand Ambassador for San Street, the distributor of ZeroHour, Action Ladfigure Inc and Extreme streetwear brands in Singapore. San Street is also a main sponsor of this blog.)
They say, sex sells. Let candy maker PEZ prove it to you. Before the 1950s, the PEZ founder had a brilliant idea. He decided to use beautiful and sexy women known as the PEZGirls to sell candy to the adult market. The PEZGirls were often used in advertisements and even on vending machines. And oh boy, were they a success! I guess nothing beats a woman with sexy legs when it comes to selling candies.
(Thanks Sir Thomas)
In 1958, the Ministry of Health in Singapore produced an 8 paged planned parenthood comic book about birth control called "Escape From Fear".
What's so weird about this is that it is almost identical to a version released in 1956 by the Americans.
Here's the back page of the Singapore version:
Now compare it to this US version:
Different names, a change of skin colour and redrawn heads! Check out the front cover of the Singapore version and the American cover. Spooky! You can read the entire comic (US version) here.
Dude finds 10 great clips of Hong Kong martial arts movie fights on YouTube. I don't watch much Hong Kong martial arts film but I'm really impressed with some of the fight choreography in these clips. Not surprisingly, Jet Li and Jackie Chan are in some of them. Those two are awesome.
(Thanks Johnny Q)
Lady writes on Craiglist why she had enough of sex and gives some rules for men so that they will do better in bed. Alright guys, listen to what she has to say aye. From Craiglist:
I have decided, after much deliberation, that I will no longer be having sex.(Thanks Shy)
It has taken me 9 years of unsatisfactory sex to realize that men are clueless in bed and that my time will be much better spent pleasuring myself. I am aware that I will be spending a lot more money on AA batteries and I have come to terms with that. I will still be saving money, by not having to buy condoms.
I just want to make it clear that it is not that I cannot have an orgasm, I have them all the time, just not with someone else in the room, it is just that guys do not get what it takes to get a woman off.
For the other girls out there that have not become completely disgusted with the lack of sexual ability among men, I will lay out these rules for men to follow...
YouTube Link
Video clip of someone in a cute pig costume dancing to my favourite Jap group Morning Musume's Sexy Boy (PV and live performance). If that's not enough to make you dance to the song, how about watching some Mexican boys and a hot girl doing it?
Remember I wrote that I had a dream of Risa Niigaki a couple of months ago? I said that I have to go to Japan, find her and propose. Now thanks to the video above, I think I found a good way to do that. I'll dress up in this pig costume, do the Sexy Boy dance for her and then propose to her. I'm sure she will say yes.
Football fans in Singapore, unhappy with the new price hike by cable TV provider StarHub, will get a dedicated English Premier League channel this month. StarHub recently announced this as part of its new Sports package. From The Postman:
StarHub today announced that it will add two more channels - Goal TV 1[1] (Channel 107) and Goal TV 2 (Channel 108) to its cable TV Sports Group package from 11 August 2007. Together with its new dedicated Barclays Premier League channel – Football Channel (Channel 27), these additions bring the number of channels available in the Sports Group from four to seven.I guess football fans will generally be happy with this new offering from StarHub since we have more matches to watch this season, despite having to pay more to subscribe to the Sports plan. I've said it before in an earlier post. We have no fucking choice since StarHub now owns the rights to broadcasting the English Premier League in Singapore. I'm just hoping they won't be increasing the price again next year.
Taking Hubbing to a new level, StarHub will also stream Premier League matches on Football Channel ‘live’ via its broadband and mobile platforms, notching another first for the company and for sports fans in Singapore. Customers of StarHub Digital Cable’s Sports Group can watch Premier League matches ‘live’ on i.View[2] and MobileTV Xtra[3] at no extra charge till the end of the Premier League season in May 2008. i.View and MobileTV Xtra are StarHub’s value-added services for its broadband and mobile customers respectively.
StarHub will air 370 matches this season, and will offer viewers up to 10 Premier League matches weekly, whereby up to eight of these matches will be aired ‘live. Most of the matches will be televised on Football Channel, with the simulcast matches to be aired on StarHub’s other self-packaged sports channels, SuperSports (Channel 22) and SuperSports Plus (Channel 21). Up to three ‘live’ Premier League matches will be aired concurrently on Saturday evenings - a first for sports fans here.
A total of four ‘live’ and two delayed matches will be aired on Saturdays, with another four ‘live’ matches to be scheduled on Sundays and Tuesdays. In addition, fans can also look forward to supplementary Premier League programmes that will add depth to StarHub’s Premier League coverage.
There are a lot of really beautiful movie posters in this Soviet collection. All the posters are from 1921 to 1973. If you like them, you can also contact the site owner to request for high resolution copies of these posters. But only for teachers and researchers, I think.
I was looking at my photos when I realised that I don't really show my teeth when I smile for the camera most of the time. Maybe I need the Beauty Smile Trainer, another wacky product from Japan. Wearing it often supposedly gives you the perfect smile. It also has the ability to give one a face lift, tones the facial skin and muscles and reduces sagging. Worth a try?
It kinda reminds me of another Japanese invention - the HanaHana:
Read about it here.
(Thanks Kitaro)
Dude gets a superlicious Optimus Prime cake for his 30th birthday from his wife. Another pic here. I'm feeling jealous. I want one for my birthday too!
(via Boing Boing)
For the 20th anniversary of Mega Man (aka Rockman in Japan), Capcom created a cool video summing up the last 20 years of the popular Japanese video game. I remember playing Mega Man on my Nintendo as a kid and it is such great fun watching all the different Mega Man games in this video.
(Thanks GeekGod)
I blogged about Harry Potter and the Big Funnel recently, a fake Harry Potter book published in China. Apparently, there are more of such books available in China. From International Herald Tribune:
The zest with which the Potter series has been copied can be seen in the titles available for sale in China.
These include "Harry Potter and the Half-Blooded Relative Prince," whose name in Chinese closely resembles a genuine title in the series, as well as many others that are pure inventions, blending everything from story lines lifted from J.R.R. Tolkien, to plots and snippets taken from famous kung fu epics and characters from Chinese literary classics, like "Journey to the West."
Although not exhaustive, the list includes "Harry Potter and the Hiking Dragon," "Harry Potter and the Chinese Empire," "Harry Potter and the Young Heroes," "Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Harry Potter," "Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-up-to-Dragon," "Harry Potter and the Big Funnel," "Harry Potter and the Golden Armor," "Harry Potter and the Crystal Vase," and on and on.
NerdyShirts has several Transformers t-shirts that will make any Transformers fanboy and fangirls happy like mad. I like their Robots In Disguise t-shirt the best. It has the Autobot insignia with glasses and moustache drawn on it. So geeky! I got to have one.
Related: If you like more t-shirts and other street wear goodies, check out all my posts on Extreme, ALI and ZeroHour here.
Dude shares his collection of cool business cards in his Art of the Business Card photoset on Flickr. Most of the designs are really out of this world. I have never seen anything as creative as those cards before.
Look who's on the cover of the next Rolling Stone Magazine. It's Guns N' Roses (the original members)! Rolling Stone Magazine has an excerpt of its feature story on how Guns N' Roses mixed drugs, punk and classic rock to make Appetite For Destruction, their Grammy award winning album of the late 80s and one of the best rock albums ever produced:
On that warm weekend evening in the spring of 1987, engineer Vic Deyglio had set up a top-of-the-line vocal microphone to capture the sounds of Rose and Smith having sex -- and at one point, he had to dash into the booth to adjust the mike as they went at it. "It was like a Ron Jeremy set in there," Deyglio recalls. Smith wanted to get back at Guns n' Roses drummer Steven Adler for cheating on her -- and had always liked the singer better anyway. "I would do anything Axl asked me to do," says Smith, now a forty-year old mom. "He's fuckin' magical." Though she was drunk and giggly that day, Smith eventually gave Rose what he wanted: Her orgasmic moans -- which ended up high in the mix on Appetite for Destruction's final track, "Rocket Queen" -- are for real. But when Adler found out what had been captured on his band's album, the drummer "fucking freaked out," Smith says. She was haunted by her recording session for years: "I ended up drinking and using drugs over this for a really long time, because I had this extreme shame and guilt and stuff."Appetite was a brilliant album. Sweet Child and Rocket Queen are my favourite tracks and I grew up playing those songs with my band. Ah, those were the days. Happy 20th Appetite! And Axl, I know it's hard to do an album as good as Appetite but just release that fucking Chinese Democracy album already. Please! How long more are you making us fans wait?
Introducing the Vegansexuals, vegetarians who refuse to have sex with anyone who eats meat. And their numbers are rising. Now that's disturbing. From Independent:
The centre's co-director, Annie Potts, told the Christchurch newspaper The Press yesterday that she was startled to discover that quite a number of vegans, mainly women, routinely avoided sex with meat-eaters. They explained that they considered the bodies of carnivores to be made up of animal carcasses.
"I have not come across it before," said Dr Potts, who coined the term vegansexual to describe this previously unknown social group. A pescetarian from Wellington told researchers that her boyfriend was a vegetarian, and she could not imagine living with a meat-eater. "It would disgust me to see my boy tucking into a chicken," she said. Another woman, also a vegan, declared: "I believe we are what we consume, so I really struggle with bodily fluids, especially sexually."
One vegan from Christchurch did confess that she sometimes found carnivores sexually attractive, but she said: "I would not want to be intimate with somebody whose body is literally made up from the bodies of others who have died for their sustenance. I wouldn't want to get close to them in a physical sense if their body was derived from meat. For me, this constitutes my very personal form of ethical sexuality."
Australian scientists are saying that the humble office laser printer poses a health risk similar to a cigarette. From BBC:
The researchers carried out tests on more than 60 machines.Ok I'm staying away from those laser printers from now on.
Almost one-third were found to emit ultra-tiny particles of toner-like material, so small that they can infiltrate the lungs and cause a range of health problems from respiratory irritation to more chronic illnesses.
Conducted in an open-plan office, the test revealed that particle levels increased five-fold during working hours, a rise blamed on printer use.
The problem was worse when new cartridges were used and when graphics and images required higher quantities of toner.
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