Why is this considered news by Channel NewsAsia?

Can someone please enlighten me? Why the hell is this considered Singapore news by Channel NewsAsia? Oh, wait a minute. xin.sg is an affiliate of Channel NewsAsia. Ah, now I see the picture.

Social Media in Plain English

"Social Media in Plain English" not only manages to illustrate the forces shaping social media using a simple and effective story but it also makes me wanna make and sell my own ice cream. Hmmm, let me think of a flavour.

Bullets & Bracelets

Bullets & Bracelets is a Flickr photoset that is guaranteed to go down well with all you Wonder Woman fanboys and fangirls. Most of the pics in the set are covers of Wonder Woman comics and screen caps of the 1970s Wonder Woman TV series starring Lynda Carter.

Instant Origami for the hopeless

Instant Origami is the contemporary interpretation of the traditional Japanese paper folding technique focusing on speed and imagination rather than on the technically brilliant execution. In other words, perfect for people like me who are hopeless at origami.

I'm sorry I ran out of name cards

I spotted this on Sunday at a booth set up by comic artists Ken Foo, Troy Chin and Sonny Liew, aptly named "3 Guys In a Booth" at the Singapore Comic & Toy Convention. I thought it's cute that Ken decided to improvise since he ran out of name cards at the convention.

A sneak peak at Hasbro's upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars toys

At the Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 held over the weekend at Suntec, Hasbro gave visitors a sneak peak into their much anticipated upcoming new release Star Wars: The Clone Wars before its global launch on July 26. Check out the photos below.



Also, do read all my posts about the Singapore Toy & Comic Convention here.

Retro Kid Cereals

This gallery of retro kid cereals will hopefully bring you back memories of the good old days when eating cereals as a kid was so much fun.

(Thanks Steve)

Strongstuff Poster Art

Tom Whalen aka Strongstuff is a designer and illustrator. Over at his blog and deviantART, you can view some of his works. I especially like his movie posters and of course, his Transformers posters. They are all wonderful!

In search of the greatest chocolate bar

Early this year, Jim decided to embark on a mission to find the world's greatest chocolate bar. On his blog Jim's Chocolate Mission, you can read his reviews of the chocolate bars that he has tasted. This is what he has to say about Nestle Milo Bar:

The 'Milo' base is a mixture of rice cereal and barley - it had a distinct biscuity malty taste which with its substantial nature made for an extremely tasty and filling base to the bar. The chocolate was neither of great or poor quality...it wasnt the strongest in flavour though had a milky sweet taste....in truth this component could be done better. The caramel element to this bar was suprising in taste...I was expecting a very sweet taste but was infact met with a flavour that was more like fudge....it was far creamier than your standard caramel - very tasty.

Overall this is probably the best bar that I have tasted from the Sourthern Hemisphere so far. The 'Milo' combines a nice variety of textures and biscuity malty flavours in a substantial 50g bar that I can imagine when enjoyed with a cool glass of milk would really hit the spot if in a situation of any hunger. The only slight drawback comes with the chocolate which could of been implemented slightly better. Im also not overly sure about its 'Energy Food' positioning but that really dosent matter as at the root of things we have an extremely tasty bar.

Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 Preview Night Part 10

This is the last post of my coverage of the Preview Night of the Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 held last evening. I'm sorry that I couldn't cover everything. There's lots more stuff at the convention that you have to see. Bandai, Lego, Nintendo are all there.

My final thoughts of Singapore's inaugural toy convention: Well, it's definitely not Comic-Con but I have to say that the people at PI Events did a great job organising this. The Singapore Toy & Comic Convention is a mecca for local toy and comic lovers. My initial reaction when I stepped into the convention hall was similar to the one I had as a small boy going into my first toy store. It was that exciting. If you love toys - I'm sure everyone does aye - then I promise you will have a great time at the convention. I think there's a huge potential in this and I'm positive that the Singapore Toy & Comic Convention will get bigger next year and hopefully it will be as big as Comic-Con one day.

The Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 is now on until tomorrow at Suntec Convention Hall 603 (Level 6). Admission is free! I'll be there again tomorrow for the Batman: Gotham Knight screening and hopefully to take more pics. See you guys there. And if you do see me, do say hi but try not to shout my name out loud ok.

You can read all the 10 parts of my Singapore Toy & Comic Convention Preview Night coverage here and view all the photos I took over at my Ovi channel.

Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 Preview Night Part 9

For me the highlight of the Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 Preview Night held last evening has to be the exclusive preview of an animation short from Batman: Gotham Knight.

Batman: Gotham Knight is a 2008 animated direct-to-DVD anthology film of six animated short films set in-between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight movies. The short films were done in Japanese anime style. The DVD will be on sale on July 8.

They only showed around 15 mins or so of Gotham Knight at the preview last night but it sure was enough to whet my appetite for the full Asian Premiere Screening to be held tomorrow (Sunday) at 6pm. I understand that it is free and those attending the convention will be able to watch it. I got my pass which gives me a comfy seat so that I don't have to stand while watching the entire movie. I have to thank Daphne from PI Events for that. I really hate standing.

Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 Preview Night Part 8

A cool toy that is being demoed at the Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 is the GP-100. You can find it at the Movies with Motions booth.



The GP-100 is a motion gaming platform with "Free Fall Sensation Technology" which simulates all the movements and vibrations inside a moving race car. The whole setup is impressive. There's the premium racing components (steering wheel, seat, paddles, stick, etc) which is wired up to what looks like a high end PC and of course to the HD TV. Oh, and not forgetting the high performance surround sound system to complete one hell of gaming experience.



Check out a video of the GP-100 in action:

Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 Preview Night Part 7

One of my favourite booths at the Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 is the one by Simply Toys, a shop that sells high end collectibles, movie and TV related prop replicas and statuettes. They are displaying some of their latest super realistic busts at the convention including Optimus Prime and Bumbleebee busts! Check out more photos below.

Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 Preview Night Part 6

If you are a trekkie, then you should check out the booth by the Singapore Star Trek Fansite. These guys rock! StarTrek.sg is the largest and most active Star Trek fans group in Singapore (non-profit). They have over 500 trekkies in their mailing list, and over 200 users in their online forums. They also take part in cosplay events dressed up in their Star Trek uniforms and face masks.



I took a pic of some of the Star Trek gadgets that were on display in their booth. You can spot the Communicator, some weapons and medical equipments. Cool!

Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 Preview Night Part 5

Perhaps the weirdest thing that I saw at the Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 is this set of bread like toys.



They called 'em breadou. Apparently they act as a wrist rest and a stress ball too.



They smell like real bread. They look like real bread. I managed to give a few of them a squeeze. Just had to. My verdict: They are truly weird.

Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 Preview Night Part 4

Above: At the Star Wars Booth. Darth Vader toys through the years.

Also watch videos of the Star Wars Action Figures from 1977 to 1985 and from 1995 to 2008.

And here are more pics at the Star Wars booth.

Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 Preview Night Part 3

One of the highlights of the Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 is the Star Wars booth set up by Hasbro. I'm a big Star Wars fan and oh boy, was I excited like hell inside the booth.



There are so many Star Wars goodies like this awesome display of hundreds of Clone trooper action figures.



And then there's this glorious setting of the Galactic Empire Army with the Emperor and Darth Vader.



Ok, the above pics don't really show much but hopefully this video will.

Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 Preview Night Part 2

I met lots of stars at the Singapore Toy & Comic Convention (STCC) 2008. First up is 91.3 DJ and my friend Jeremy Ratnam who is the emcee of STCC.



Boy, we had a great time catching up with each other during his breaks.



Here's Gary Erskine getting ready to be interviewed by the Animax crew. Animax is a broadcast partner of the STCC and is broadcasting the event on its channel. Gary has worked on comics such as “Transformers”, “Judge Dredd”, “Hellblazer” and “Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron”. He has also worked on licensed properties such as the Dreamworks characters (including Shrek and Madagascar) and for Sony and occasionally freelances with the award winning Glasgow studio Axis Animation.

You can catch Gary at his autograph signing tomorrow from 2-3pm and Sunday at 12.30-1.30pm and 4-5pm. He will also be doing a live art demo tomorrow from 4.30-5.30pm.



Simone Legno of the tokidoki fame is another one who was very busy during the Preview Night. Here he is signing some autographs for his fans. tokidoki is a lifestyle brand that features a wide range of popular products, including shirts, jewellery, designer toys and skate decks. The art of tokidoki is also recognized throughout the world from his collaborations with brands such as LeSportsac, Onitsuka Tiger, Hello Kitty and Forinara, just to name a few.

Simeone's autograph signing session will be on tomorrow from 12.30-1.30pm and 4-pm and on Sunday from 1.15-2.15pm. You can catch him doing a live art demo on Sunday from 4.30-5.30pm.



The dudes from Monsterism! Pete Fowler is the one on the right. Pete is best known for his artwork for the Welsh band Super Furry Animals. He is a freelance illustrator and "monster creator" inspired by Japanese art.

You can get his autograph tomorrow from 1-2pm and 5-6pm and on Sunday from 2-3pm. His live art demo will take place on Sunday from 4.30-5.30pm.



And here's the lovely Kika from madcap who sportingly posed for me. Kika is a international artist, illustrator, designer, scenarist and street art painter. She designs and illustrates for different brands and magazines. Kika is the art director of Madcap.

Watch out for Part 3 of my Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 Preview Night coverage.

Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 Preview Night Part 1

I had a blast of a time at the Singapore Toy & Comic Convention (STCC) 2008 Preview Night earlier this evening. The session was specially reserved for networking opportunities for key manufacturers, distributors, retailers, designers, special guests and members of the media. The STCC is open to the public tomorrow and it is held at Suntec Convention Hall 603 (Level 6).



A huge welcome board greets the guests.



This is the Artists' Graffiti Wall which is a panel measuring 16ft by 8ft where the invited artists and designers draw, doodle, sketch and paint on. Some of the participating artists who drew on the Graffiti Wall include DEVILROBOTS, Gary Erskine, Pete Fowler and Tokidoki. Click here to view a close up of the drawings on the Graffiti Wall.

The opening ceremony was graced by the Guest of Honour, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports. Watch the video here.

Covering the Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008

I'll be at the Suntec Convention Centre in an hour to cover the Official Opening and Preview Night of the Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008. Many thanks to Daphne from PI Events for the invite. The Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 is the first ever pop culture event in Singapore. The visual feast is supported by STB and MDA and features a host of industries cutting across toys, comics, gaming, animation, licensing and design. Watch out for my reports and pics later tonight and tomorrow. I'm also looking forward to watching the exclusive preview of Batman: Gotham Knight at tonight's event. Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008 will open to the public tomorrow and ends on Sunday. Go check it out aye.

Chinese farmer flies homemade airplane

A Chinese farmer builds himself an airplane using parts found in his farm (I think) and successfully flies it around his village. I think this video is a fake but if it's real then I don't mind flying this dude's airplane. Looks fun aye and it sure beats driving to town with all that traffic.

(via Make)

Flashback by National Geographic Magazine

Each month, National Geographic Magazine features a photograph from its archives in Flashback. Lots of great photos and historical images there that capture our past. This Martian was drawn by Arctic explorer Anthony Fiala and was never before published by the magazine.

(Thanks Mike)

Free Photo Booth

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno puts a phony photo booth on a street at Universal Studios in Hollywood. Watch it here. It's damn funny. I remember watching this clip on TV. I think it's from one of the older The Tonight Show episodes.

Captured Monsters

Dude posts screen captures from great and not-so-great monster movies and cartoons on his blog Captured Monsters. This one on the left is a scene from the 80's cartoon The Beany and Cecil Show: Wild Man Of Wildsville.

Today's Singapore News

1) Singaporean consumers most confident: Survey
2) Singapore has an edge in competing for global talent
3) More local film-makers tackle sex and nudity
4) Record pump prices put brakes on Singapore's budget car sales
5) 53-year-old hotel makes way for MRT
6) Confusion surrounds taxi city surcharge
7) Passengers rest easy as Singapore bids to stay ahead of the pack
8) CASE finds many cooked food dishes being sold for S$2.50 and below
9) New drive-in admission to Sentosa from July
10) Over 780,000 HDB households to receive S$134m of utility rebates

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

The Simpsons in Quake III Arena

Some dude created a Simpsons map for Quake III Arena, the popular multiplayer first-person shooter computer game. You can move around the Simpsons' house and other areas of Springfield and frag the likes of Homer and Mr Burns.

Be a BMW Sauber F1 driver

I've just finished playing You Be The Driver, a cool flash game by Intel that tests your skills to be a F1 driver. According to the game, I have what it takes to be a BMW Sauber F1 team driver. Yay! Now give me the damn car.

The War of the Worlds Book Covers

345 different covers of HG Well's classic book, The War of the Worlds. This one on the left is a cover of the 1964 publication of the book illustrated by Shannon Stirnweis. Also check out the interior illustrations of some of the books.

(Thanks Sir Thomas)

Today's Singapore News

1) The rise of the male fashionista in Singapore
2) Singapore now has 77,000 millionaires
3) Ageing population may hurt Singapore most
4) Singapore's quest to be less dependent on Malaysia for water started at seperation
5) Fishcam monitors Singapore water pollution
6) Democracy in Singapore
7) Opposition would ruin Singapore: Lee Kuan Yew
8) Electricity tariffs to rise 4.98% from next quarter
9) Singapore good may soon be a part of American diet
10) Price of rice likely to fall in next few months

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

Dance Off with the Star Wars Stars

Darth Vader steals the show with a performance of Thriller in this year's Dance Off with the Star Wars Stars (video above) held at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The Dark Lord also made an appearance in last year's competition, together with Queen Amidala. Watch it here.

Retro Reality

Lee Vidal uses Photoshop to mix retro video game sprites into realistic backgrounds and settings. The end result is an amazing set of photos that show how these video game sprites look like living in the real world.

Ryohei Hase's Fantasy Art

I'm totally blown away by the wonderful artwork by Ryohei Hase, a Japanese artist who specializes in realistic fantasy art. Ryohei has painted illustrations for book covers, web, games and magazines. This dude is really talented alright.

(Thanks Brenda)

Japanese Monsters in HDR

Kaiju (Japanese monster) toy collector and photographer Red Yoda has a Flickr photoset of his monster collection in HDR. He says, "I am experimenting with close-up HDR photography and tone-mapping for fun... and to give each figure a bit more personality."

(via Pink Tentacle)

Today's Singapore News

1) Singapore is a cohesive nation, thanks to the HDB
2) Fewer NDP tickets for sale this year
3) Singaporeans are biggest online spenders
4) Parents do not have faith in SAF's screening system
5) Singapore to have most PCs per head in APAC
6) HSA warns potent substance found in dietary supplement
7) Singapore's 4th university to have 2,500 students
8) Foreigners producing badly needed babies in Singapore
9) Pump prices up for 13th time since last July
10) Waiting time for buses in Singapore faster than in other countries

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

Make your own custom receipts

I just shopped at Babes R' Us and bought my two favourite gals, Jun Ji Hyun and Risa Niigaki at a combined cost of only $95! Check out the receipt. How I wish! Make your own custom receipts here.

(Thanks Johnny Q)

View entire Picture Books online

The folks at Lookybook are building their collection of picture books. Their goal is to post current and past picture books that are worth looking at. Lookybook allows you to look at picture books in their entirety—from cover to cover, at your own pace. Picture books are all about the pictures and they want you to know what you get if you buy it. What a brilliant idea!

Watch 5 mins of Gotham Knight

MTV Movies Blog has an exclusive 5 minute clip of Batman: Gotham Knight, the anthology of six animated tales done in Japanese anime style. It will be released on DVD on July 8 and it is made by the the producers of Batman Begins and the upcoming Dark Knight movie. Check out the awesome trailer and all the movie info over at the Gotham Knight official site.

Mulder and Scully visit Guns N Roses Leaker

The dude who recently posted nine tracks from the yet to be released Chinese Democracy album by Guns N Roses got a surprise visit by two FBI agents. From Rolling Stone:

Yesterday Skwerl was surprised to find himself face to face with two FBI agents who paid a visit to his day job. “It was kind of an ambush,” Skwerl tells Rolling Stone. “When I came back from lunch they were waiting in the lobby for me. It’s a little creepy they know where I work.” Two young FBI officers, who Skwerl describes as “Mulder and Scully types,” questioned him for 15 minutes about where he got the tracks and made plans to visit his house at 7:00 a.m. this morning.

“I wasn’t sure if they were going to come by with a warrant and trash the place, like in the movies,” he says. “It was nothing like that.” The FBI officials wanted to see the original files, but Skwerl erased them last week per instructions from Axl Rose’s attorneys. Skwerl ultimately gave them second-hand files that are now widely available on the Internet.

North Koreans are crazy and scary!

Death of the Father of the Socialist Homeland is a North Korean documentary production that shows how the North Koreans mourn the passing of Kim Il Sung, the communist country's founding leader. I just finished watching it and I find these North Koreans crazy and scary. It looks like they were brainwashed or something. The above clip is part 2 of 3. Watch all three clips here.

International Tokyo Toy Show 2008

Eddie Wong was at the International Tokyo Toy Show 2008 recently to check out the collectors figures. Read his report and view all his pics taken at the show. Also, do check out JapanToday.com's Flickr set for more pics.

Great Art Parodies by Sesame Street

Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Elmo and other Sesame Street characters feature in their own version of some of the world's greatest paintings.

(Thanks primus)

World mosaic created from 1001 web 2.0 logos

The folks at AppAppeal created a world mosaic using 1001 web 2.0 company logos. The logos will appear in full-size when you hover over the mosaic. You can click on a logo to visit one of today's leading web 2.0 sites.

X-Files website update

The X-Files: I Want To Believe official movie website has been updated with tons of new and cool stuff! Check it out. Oh, I love the widget. I've added it to my Facebook.

Why no ERP from Holland Rd to Orchard Rd?

Wenny left a comment in my Topix news post about higher ERP rates and new gantries. She asks why isn't there any ERP gantry from Holland Rd to Orchard Rd? From Topix:

As a road user, I cannot help but wonder why there is not a single ERP gantry on the road from Holland Rd to Orchard Rd. If we take a step back and think, this road services the population living in the West from Clementi, private estates of Bt Timah, Sixth Ave and Holland areas and these are the people who drive to work due to their better financial abilities. I am quite sure they contibute to congestion on the road too, but why is the authority not doing something to curb the traffic on that side? It seems that the authority is favouring the "rich" by compromising the "poor". Or does the authority think that ERP will not work on the "rich" since a few bucks don't matter to them at all as only the middle class will feel the pinch? It is rather ridiculous having to pay $9.50 for ERP when one travels on the CTE to go to the town on a morning. Is it reasonable?

Today's Singapore News

1) 600 graduates held taxi licences last year
2) Cellphones could play key role in tracking infectious diseases
3) Singapore gets flat-rate mobile IM
4) Competition keeping durian prices low in Singapore
5) Father flies from Singapore to Vietnam using son's passport
6) Haze likely in next 3 months
7) Singapore GP Season will give even non-F1 fans a chance to party
8) More and more nomad families in Singapore
9) S'pore's investments in water research cut cost of reclaimed water sharply
10) ERP helps business, says LTA

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

How does one get lost in MacRitchie Reservoir for 18 hours?

That's the question I asked when I came across this story in the Straits Times about a Japanese dude who went to MacRitchie for a jog and ended up getting lost there overnight. From Straits Times:

'The police told me to try to get near the reservoir as they were ferrying the rangers around by boat,' Dr Takei told The New Paper.

By sunset, his handphone battery had gone flat and he suffered cuts and scratches on his arms and legs after walking through thorny vegetation.

For safety reasons, he stopped walking when darkness fell.

Dr Takei said he was afraid of snakes as he could hear animals moving about. He said he had only an hour of sleep around 6am before it began raining at about 7am. He began walking around when the rain stopped and finally came near the reservoir at 9.30am.

He saw the rangers getting off the boat and shouted to them.

I understand that MacRitchie Reservoir and its surrounding area is relatively big (check out the Google Map of the area here) but surely it cannot be that big that one can get lost there for 18 hours aye? Besides, this is Singapore. No one gets lost here. I guess Dr Takei must have been very, very bad with directions - not the sort of dude you want to follow for a walk in your nature reserve.

Playmobil Online Archive

This German site has an archive of Playmobil playsets from 1974 to 2001. As a boy, I used to play with Playmobil long before I had my first Lego. Looking at all these Playmobil sets does bring back some memories of the good old days.

(via MeFi)

Star Wars Star Destroyer Cake

Diane from Bewitching Elegance, a specialist in luscious artisan cakes, made this Star Destroyer cake. Even the Stormtrooper in this pic was impressed by its awesomeness.

(Thanks John M)

Unboxing the new LG Secret mobile phone

I received LG's hot new phone, the LG Secret aka the KF750 last week. The LG Secret is the third LG Black Label Series following the success of LG Chocolate and LG Shine. Yesterday, I decided to give the LG Secret an official unboxing. Here are the pics. You can click on the thumbnails below.



And of course, no unboxing will be complete without a video aye, so here's one.



Also, do check out my coverage of the LG Secret launch at CommunicAsia here.

Singlish according to Wikipedia

Wikipedia's article on Singlish is perhaps the most detailed and amusing that you can find on the internet. From Wikipedia:

Singlish is strongly discouraged in Singaporean schools at a governmental level as it is believed to hinder the proper learning of standard English, and so faces a situation of diglossia.[11] The use of Singlish when speaking in classes or to teachers, however officially frowned upon, is rather inevitable given that many teachers themselves are comfortable with the variety.[12] For many students, using Singlish is also inevitable when interacting with their peers, siblings, parents and elders. In polytechnics, students feel the greater need to socialise with their peers in a learning environment less rigid than primary or secondary school, and as a result Singlish is popular[citation needed]. The government continues to wage an uphill battle in discouraging students from developing a Singlish-speaking habit.

Singaporean men find speaking Singlish necessary during their time in the military, or national service (NS), as Singlish has replaced Hokkien as the standard vernacular in the Singapore Armed Forces. The informality of Singlish fits well in stressful training situations, and are used among soldiers regardless of ethnic groups and level of education[citation needed]. Many phrases originating in the military have filtered into the lexicon over the years and they have become a method of distinguishing those who have undergone NS (National Service). One such phrase is kena arrow.

(Thanks acidflask)

CommunicAsia 2008 Coverage

CommunicAsia 2008 may be over but you can still read all my recent coverage of the event here. Check out all the reports, pics and videos of the LG and Yahoo press conferences and their latest products.

It was a blast covering both LG and Yahoo at this year's CommunicAsia and I hope you guys enjoyed reading the live reports and exclusives as much as I did bringing them to you.

SIA A380 is biggest Lego airplane in the world

Video of the biggest Lego airplane in the world and it is modeled after our very own Singapore Airlines A380! 600 hours were spent building this 1:25 scale replica using a total of 75000 Lego bricks.

Coming to a cinema near you...

"A time not long ago, in a galaxy not far away..."

Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the epic movie event of the century - "I.Z. RELOADED", coming to a cinema near you! Watch the intro here, done in Star Wars style and don't forget to blast your speakers.

Nubrella: Ultimate Weather Protector

The makers of Nubrella claim that their product is functional, stylish and easy to use. Just push its button and pull the handle towards you and the Nubrella will simply “pop” open. Put it over your head and let it rest on your shoulders and you won't get wet during a heavy downpour. I'm not so sure that it will be the new “must have” fashion accessory but it sure will bring you lots of attention on the streets.

Play more than 2500 Nintendo games in Firefox

I came across this cool Firefox add-on. It's called FireNes and once you have it installed, it lets you play more than 2,500 NES titles of all times, covering all sorts of interests and styles. The games will appear listed in alphabetic order on a sidebar to the left of your screen. Once launched, games appear on a small-sized window that runs independently from Firefox.

Childhood Fears

Childhood Fears is perhaps one of the most creepiest and insanely brilliant photosets you can find on Flickr. The photographer who took these, combined exceptional photography (awesome lighting) and great digital effects. Everyone has a childhood fear and these photos managed to capture all seven of mine.

Twittering Teddy

Some geeks transformed an animatronic teddy bear into a social networking, live streaming phenomenon. Teddy employs custom circuitry, text-to-speech software and bluetooth hardware, to enable it to sit on your desk and read aloud the Twitter feed of you and your friends. Go watch Teddy live now. Teddy's Twitter here.

(Thanks GeekGod)

New Star Wars Death Star Lego Playset

This US$400 Death Star is the best Lego set ever! The battle station features an incredible array of minifigure-scale scenes and accessories from Star Wars Episodes IV and VI. Its different decks include the Death Star control room, moving turbolaser turrets, hangar bay with TIE Advanced starfighter, tractor beam controls, Emperor’s throne room, detention block, Imperial conference room, droid maintenance facility, and the powerful Death Star superlaser and much more! Farkin' cool aye.

I Want To Be A Coal Miner

Scans of a vintage children's book titled "I Want to be a Coal Miner". I was wondering why would anyone want to write a book encouraging kids to be coal miners but then I came across this article that says office workers now see less sunshine than coal miners. More sun vs less sun? Of course kids will choose more sunshine. Coal miners, they would rather be then.

AP vs Blogs: Should we bloggers be afraid?

The Associated Press (AP) has been in the limelight recently for all the wrong reasons when it initially warned bloggers not to use its content without permission but then later retreated by saying that it will rethink its policies towards bloggers. From The New York Times:

“We don’t want to cast a pall over the blogosphere by being heavy-handed, so we have to figure out a better and more positive way to do this,” Mr. Kennedy said.

Mr. Kennedy said the company was going to meet with representatives of the Media Bloggers Association, a trade group, and others. He said he hopes that these discussions can all occur this week so that guidelines can be released soon.

Still, Mr. Kennedy said that the organization has not withdrawn its request that Drudge Retort remove the seven items. And he said that he still believes that it is more appropriate for blogs to use short summaries of A.P. articles rather than direct quotations, even short ones.

“Cutting and pasting a lot of content into a blog is not what we want to see,” he said. “It is more consistent with the spirit of the Internet to link to content so people can read the whole thing in context.”

Robert Cox from the Media Blogger Association says that the entire story has been blown out of proportion and that the AP is not out on a blogger witch hunt. From MBA:

So, Drudge Retort got on AP's radar due to the posting of entire articles with exact headlines which all parties agreed constituted copyright violations two months BEFORE the most recent spate of DMCA Take Down Notices. Technically, Drudge Retort got onto AP's radar because those posts were flagged by software used by AP called Attributor. This is a data mining spider similar to the bots and web indexers used by search engines; content companies can use it to track the use of their content on the web. It is very important that people understand this because it makes clear that the AP is not on some wild rampage through the blogosphere, lawyering up to to go after every blogger who quotes an AP story in any way. Yet that is how this story has been portrayed including by a lot of people who should know better but are having too much fun bashing AP.

While I agree that a company like AP has the right to decide for itself how it wants others to use its content, I do hope that it will come up with good, clear and FAIR guidelines so that bloggers know they won't be infringing AP's copyrights when they quote its stories.

Bloggers too have to do their part. "Fair use" is great but I do see some bloggers quoting entire news stories on their posts and some not even linking back to the original source. No wonder news organizations like AP are mad.

It's still too early to say how this will have an effect on how the blogosphere reports news. We just have to wait and see when AP releases its guidelines for bloggers and I foresee other news organizations doing the same too in the future.

Every Playboy Centerfold

Jason Salavon created these photographs by mean averaging every Playboy centerfold foldout for the four decades beginning Jan. 1960 through Dec. 1999. Photos are safe for work.

Beijing Olympics Gardening

The Chinese are taking the art of gardening to another level with these impressive garden sculptures as part of their preparations for the upcoming Olympic Games.

(Thanks capu)

Gummi Lighthouses don't look like lighthouses

These Gummi Lighthouses are a perfect example of a gummi candy design went terribly wrong. These candies were supposed to look like a lighthouse but they look more like a weener to me.

(Thanks Craig)

Bottlecaps Photoset

Fragmented has an impressive collection of bottlecaps from all over the world. Check out her photoset here. For those of you who are interested to know, the sweet/soda cap to beer ratio is around 60% soda to 40% beer.

(via jazjaz)

CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! Mobile Advertising Demo

Finally, the last video! Yahoo's Adam Taggart and Veronica explain to me how advertisers can use Yahoo's latest mobile products to reach out to a large untapped global market.

Also watch:
CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! oneConnect Demo
CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! Go 3.0 Demo
CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! oneSearch with voice Demo

CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! oneConnect Demo

In this third video, Yahoo's Adam Taggart gives me a preview of their latest product, Yahoo! oneConnect which is expected to be launched in the next few months.

Also watch:
CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! Go 3.0 Demo
CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! oneSearch with voice Demo

Previously:
Live @ CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! oneSearch with voice
Live @ CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! Press Conference

CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! Go 3.0 Demo

This second video shows Yahoo's Adam Taggart (Director of Product Marketing for Yahoo! Mobile) and Gavin demo their company's flagship mobile product, Yahoo! Go 3.0, an all in one application suite.

Previously:
CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! oneSearch with voice Demo
Live @ CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! oneSearch with voice
Live @ CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! Press Conference

CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! oneSearch with voice Demo

Yesterday at the Yahoo! booth, Adam Taggart, Director of Product Marketing for Yahoo! Mobile spent some time with me to tell me more about the new mobile products that Yahoo has rolled out. I'll be posting a series of videos of these product demos today but first up is Adam and Chris from Vlingo talking about Yahoo! oneSearch with voice.



I got a chance to try out Yahoo! oneSearch with voice myself after the the video shoot and it worked pretty well but it did come up short when I did a search for "I.Z. Reloaded".



It gave me "Eyebag Removal" instead. Oh well, nothing is perfect.

Previously:
Live @ CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! oneSearch with voice
Live @ CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! Press Conference

Today's Singapore News

1) Wii-killer from Singapore
2) Probe into how recordings landed on SDP website
3) CASE survey shows price of fragrant rice stabilizing
4) Many in CBD may alter after-work routine
5) New online maps providing directions for users in Singapore
6) S'pore cars using Causeway may have to help fund new JB road
7) Singapore Airlines to increase fuel surcharge again
8) Hong Kong, Singapore most global trade friendly
9) Higher ERP rates and new gantries from July 7
10) CPF board warns public against fast cash loan companies

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

Welcome Engadget readers!

My post about the LG Secret launch at CommunicAsia2008 has been picked up by the nice folks at Engadget and their sister blog Engadget mobile. I would like to welcome the thousands of Engadget readers that visited my blog today and I would like to offer all you guys and gals... free ice cream at Cafe Yahoo!. lol.

Live @ CommunicAsia 2008 Day 2: Yahoo Ice Cream!

Looks like Yahoo! is not only reinventing the mobile internet but it is also reinventing ice cream! Over at the Cafe Yahoo! located inside the Yahoo! booth, you can get free ice cream with flavours like Mrs Smith, Honey Dew, Milo Peng and Horlick. I'm not sure which one I tried - it looks chocolaty - but it's damn delicious.

Live @ CommunicAsia 2008 Day 2: SingTel F1 Racer

I spotted this F1 car at the SingTel booth. It's actually a simulator. Too bad because I would really like to drive this back home. The SingTel F1 simulator looked fun and I really I wanted to try it out - to see if it beats playing F1 on the PS3 at home - but this girl seemed to be on the wheel like forever. Grrr.

CommunicAsia 2008: LG Secret Launch Videos

Finally, the videos of the LG Press Conference! Bloody YouTube's been giving me problems with one of the videos that I uploaded. Took forever to upload so I turned to Google Video instead.



The first video is of the launch of the LG Secret. Pretty cool. Very glam. I like the way the giant phone slowly rotates to the audience.



Second video is a hands-on with the LG Secret. I have to apologize that it's just a short clip. Wanted to take a longer video but stupid me, forgot to bring extra memory. I didn't know shooting in AVI takes a lot space.

Previously:
Live @ CommunicAsia 2008: First pics of LG Secret!
Live @ CommunicAsia 2008: LG Press Conference

CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! Press Conference Videos

In these two videos, Yahoo!'s David Ko explained some of his company's new mobile initiatives during the press conference held earlier today at CommunicAsia2008.

Previously: Live @ CommunicAsia2008: Yahoo! Press Conference

Live @ CommunicAsia 2008: First pics of LG Secret!

I'm still uploading videos of the LG press conference, the LG Secret phone and more. It's taking a bit more time. Thanks for the patience.

Update: Watch the videos here.

Update: Welcome dear Engadget readers.

Previously: Live @ CommunicAsia 2008: LG Press Conference

Live @ CommunicAsia 2008: LG Press Conference

LG officially announced the Asia-Pacific launch of the LG Secret at Hall 1, Singapore Expo to a packed audience. LG Secret is the third LG Black Label Series following the success of LG Chocolate and LG Shine.

LG is hoping that the launch of LG Secret will elevate LG even further in its quest to become a top-tier mobile brand in the region.

LG Secret boasts a slim 11.8 mm thick frame with a 5.0 megapixel camera. It is the first mobile phone in the world to be made from carbon fiber. It also uses tempered glass which further enhances the phone's sturdiness.

The phone's Neon Touch Navigation appeals to users on an emotional level and visual feedback. When browsing its five Touch Media feature, the main display becomes touch sensitive for an easy and intuitive experience.

LG Secret also boasts 120 fps video recording, DivX certified video playback, Auto Luminance Control, Bluetooth Auto-Sync features and it is loaded with a Google Package that enables you to surf the internet, log into Gmail, use Google Maps and watch YouTube videos. You can also open Word, Excel and Powerpoint files, listen to music while flicking through your photos on the screen and play motion games that have a gyroscope-like effect enabled by the accelerometer sensor.

Pricing for the LG Secret is currently unavailable but I've heard that the sets will be shipped to Singapore for sale sometime next week.





More photos and videos of the LG Secret later.

Update: LG Secret will be on sale in Singapore on June 21 and will retail at S$838.

Update: View more photos here and watch the videos here.

Live @ CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! oneSearch with voice

One of the coolest things that Yahoo! announced today at CommunicAsia2008 is the Yahoo! oneSearch with voice. They called it the next phase of mobile search technology.

Yahoo! oneSearch with voice is currently available only for English speakers in Singapore and India and you can only use it with selected BlackBerry devices including the 8800 series, Curve, and Pearl.



This English product is capable of understanding, disambiguating and learning accents localized for India and Singapore, allowing anyone to search anything by simply speaking into their devices. You can perform "wide open" searches that will return relevant results for a range of queries. And another amazing thing is the more you use it, it will adapt to your intonations and accent thus providing increasingly fine-tuned results.

Yahoo! informed me that the Yahoo! oneSearch with voice will be made available in other countries and support additional devices over the coming months.

Download it here.

Update: A startup called Vlingo is providing the voice-powered interface for Yahoo!
oneSearch. Read its press release here (PDF). Yahoo invested US$20m in the company in April.

Live @ CommunicAsia 2008: Yahoo! Press Conference

Over at the Yahoo! press conference held in Hall 5 of Singapore Expo, the folks at Yahoo! announced several new mobile initiatives for the Asia Pacific region, including five new Yahoo! oneSearch partnerships with leading mobile operators in the region, as well as strategic mobile advertising partnerships.

Yahoo! also announced localized versions of Yahoo! Go 3.0 for India, Australia and Southeast Asia including a local language version for Indonesia, and an English version of Yahoo! oneSearch with voice that recognizes regional accents. More about Yahoo! oneSearch here.

New Mobile Widgets for the Asia Pacific region are also launched including Yahoo! Cricket, Yahoo! Answers and Showtimes, as well as a MTV Asia mobile widget featuring news updates and music charts. These mobile widgets will be accessible through the new Yahoo! Go 3.0 and the Yahoo! mobile home page. Mobile widget developers can also build their widgets in Blueprint, Yahoo!'s recently launched XML-based language that allows developers to write their widget once and have their widgets run across millions of devices.

Videos of the press conference here.

Live @ CommunicAsia 2008!

I'm at the Singapore Expo for CommunicAsia2008, the region's premier Information and Communications Technology event. I'm waiting for the Yahoo press conference and after that I will be attending the one by LG. Hopefully later in the day, I'll get to post my reports of the products that both Yahoo and LG are showcasing at this year's CommunicAsia such as Yahoo! oneSearch, Yahoo! Go 3.0 and LG's KF750 and KF700.

The Girl with Eight Limbs

I can't wait to watch this upcoming special on National Geographic Channel called "Girl With Eight Limbs" which will premier on Sunday, June 22. Watch a preview before it airs here. It is a story about a girl in a remote village in India born with eight limbs. Some believed that she is the reincarnation of the eight limbed Hindu goddess of wealth and fortune.

Over at the NGC Blog, Paul Copeland, one of the producers of the NGC special, writes a two part post (Part One, Part Two) about his experience filming this extraordinary story:

I remember on the day and night of the operation (it started at 8am on November 6th and didn’t finish until 4am the next day) that only myself and the cameraman were allowed into the operating room alongside the medical team. It was extraordinary to be in there – overnight Lakshmi’s story had gripped the world and all the Indian news channels were running continuous updates – watching these surgeons taking on the biggest challenge of their careers. Mostly they were calm – only just before the parasitic twin was removed did one of them confess to me that he feared that the blood loss was too rapid and that Lakshmi would not sustain it – but as the night wore on and success seemed more certain the more elated they became (I remember they had an Ipod playing a selection of eighties British rock music, which struck me as mildly bizarre). When Lakshmi left the theatre just before 4am I remember seeing Sneh catching sight of Lakshmi with two legs for the first time and bursting into uncontrollable tears – and for me this summed up the whole experience, and how we had all become emotionally dragged into the fight for life of this one-in-a-million baby girl.

Little Lakshmi Tatma had the life-saving operation to remove her headless conjoined twin in November year. The latest news is that she has taken her first steps on her own two feet. I wish her well.

Astro Boy made from recycled train tickets

This Astro Boy mural is now on display at the Shinjuku Takashimaya Department Store to mark the opening of Tokyo’s new Fukutoshin subway line. It is made from 138,000 recycled Tokyo Metro tickets!

Also read: My new Astro Boy t-shirt is so cool!

Strawberry Shortcake gets a makeover

I know some of you purists out there may disagree but I kinda like the new Strawberry Shortcake. At least, I think she nows looks so much prettier and sweeter. The total cost of her makeover if it's real for those of you who really wanna know: US$23,675.19!

Diabolic Monsters Redux

On Saturday, I posted a link to a set of cool monster trading cards. My mistake. Those weren't cards but stickers. Now the dude who collected them has just started to remake them for fun.

Previously: Monster Trading Cards

The Word of Mouth Manual

The Word Of Mouth Manual, Volume II is an excellent book written by Dave Balter for word of mouth practitioners and participants so they can better understand and celebrate the medium; traditional marketeers and advertisers who are trying to truly understand word of mouth and know they must do so in order to evolve, adapt, and succeed; and the general public who live by word of mouth every day whether they realise it or not. You can download the entire book for free here.

(Thanks Guy Kawasaki)

The X-Files and If I Were Superman out in July

Two of my most eagerly awaited movies this year will be out next month!



The X-Files: I Want To Believe (Woooh Mulder! Woooh Scully!) and...



If I Were Superman, the Korean flick starring my favourite sassy gal, Jun Ji Hyun!!!

Watch the trailers of the two movies here and here.

According to Golden Village, The X-Files will debut in our theatres on July 25 and If I Were Superman on July 3rd. I'm counting the days.

Sony Babes at PC Show 2008

Mr Big writes, "I love Sony! I love Sony! I love Sony! I love Sony! I love Sony! I love Sony! I love Sony! I love Sony!" Hmm the models or the products? Photo gallery of Sony models at PC Show 2008.

(Thanks Mr Big)

Making the most amazing R2-D2 cake ever

Professional baker Mark Randazzo shows us how he made the most amazing R2-D2 cake ever in these photos. It's really one giant red velvet cake with Rice Krispy treat legs! I think I'm going to get Mark to make this one for my birthday.

Paper Foldables

Bryan has some amazing Paper Foldables for you to download, print, cut, fold and tape. You can also check out his recent work here. His Man Utd Paper Foldables (here and here) should be a delight for any Man Utd fan.

Drive around Singapore or anywhere in the world with Google Maps

This 2D Driving Simulator allows anyone to drive around Singapore or anywhere in world on Google Maps. You have a choice of three vehicles. I've just finished taking my huge truck for a spin across Bedok Reservoir at 148 km/h. How cool is that aye?

Monster Trading Cards

Monstruos Diabolicos is a set of 80 trading cards that feature face drawings of monsters. You'll see some familiar faces such as Dracula, Frakenstein and even the Dark Lord himself, Darth Vader!

iPhone 3G must be activated in-store

It looks like you won't be able to buy the iPhone 3G from SingTel for your friends or family members when it comes out later this year. According to this Q&A with a spokesperson for AT&T who are selling the iPhone 3G in the US, the phone must be activated in-store. From Engadget:

Chris asks: Can these devices be purchased and given as gifts?

No. You will need to walk out of the AT&T or Apple store with the device activated.

Greekjgg asks: What if I want to buy one for work which already uses AT&T for company account? I can't activate in store, obviously, so will it be possible to to buy without a contract?

We don't have details yet but iPhones for business use will likely be provisioned through your company's IT department.

Tons of people ask: If I purchase an original iPhone from a friend will I be able to get the old data plan pricing? Or will I need to sign up at the new, more expensive rate?

Yes. You can get the old data plan price if someone gives you a device and you establish service for yourself.

Previously: Reserve your iPhone 3G now!

Singapore's Black and White Houses

What is it like to live in one of Singapore's traditional colonial-era homes also known as the "Black and White" houses? The New York Times interviews a family who lives in one that costs $22,000 a month to rent! Photos of their beautiful house here. From NYT:

Mold and bugs are probably the house’s two biggest problems; there is a need to be vigilant about termites and cleaning up after the geckos, she said. “There’s also always something breaking. Because the lightning protection is not sufficient for the number of direct hits we get, we’ve gone through two computers, a hard drive and two TVs.”

The Pickerings’ is one of 33 black-and-white houses around the Mount Pleasant area; there are similar pockets elsewhere in the city. The houses are magnets for expatriates but unloved by Singaporeans, for whom they have sinister associations. “Some of the more senior taxi drivers don’t like to come here at night,” Mrs. Pickering said. “These houses were taken over by the high command of the Japanese military during the Second World War, and some Singaporeans believe they’re haunted.”

Family members have not felt any ghostly presence, but they have had plenty of encounters with unusual creatures: fruit bats, hungry monkeys looking for food in the kitchen, cobras slithering around the garden and even the occasional meterlong monitor lizard.

Today's Singapore News

1) Singapore gets mobile number portability
2) More young adults, divorcees missing credit card payments
3) Singapore water companies making a splash overseas
4) Singapore no longer one of the world's top 20 most liveable cities
5) Security at Subordinate Courts tightened after escape attempt
6) Singapore man with armpit fetish jailed
7) Expert says sub-fertility on the rise, due to stress and other factors
8) Singapore may offer better math for Utahns
9) WP leader now regrets voting for PAP candidate
10) SAF suspends physical training for three days

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

Morning Musume on Taiwan TV show

Watch parts one, two, three (above) and four of Morning Musume's recent appearance in a Taiwanese TV show. One of the fans, a young Taiwanese girl, gets so excited that she cries when the host calls her out to stand in front of the Morning Musume girls. Apparently, she's a big fan of Risa Niigaki. I would be as excited too if I were her but nah, you won't see me crying on national TV. Instead, I'd just give my girl Risa a tight hug and refuse to let her go. They would then probably need to call security.

Also read:
Risa Niigaki in Last Kiss
Morning Musume visits Taiwan. Taiwanese go crazy!
I dreamt of Morning Musume

The Greatest Workstation Of All Time

Those designers at NovelQuest have gone a little bit crazy with their latest workstation offering. They called it the Emperor and it looks like something Darth Vader will sit on. It has three large monitors for a panoramic view, THX Dolby surround sound, air filtering, light therapy, webcam, battery backup, and lots of other stuffs. Ok I want one!

The Babes of Euro 2008

Just what every football fan needs now - a blog about the girls of Euro 2008! Of course, no major football tournament will be complete without the thousands of babes screaming their lungs out for their favourite team aye. Damn, it must be great over at Austria and Switzerland now.

(Thanks primus)

Bio-Apocalypse is the most awesome comic book!

Dude was a very, very troubled 6th grader who was on bad terms with God and humanity. He took one month drawing a 94 page graphic novel titled Bio-Apocalypse during his recess, free time and in class when his teacher wasn't looking. Bio-Apocalypse is the most intense and amazing comic that I've come across. It's a masterpiece and it should be published!

Joe's Amazing Book Collection

Joe Krall says, "These are some of the rare (and not so rare) books that I have collected over the past 12 years. They range from graphic design, architecture, art, typography, illustration, skateboarding, graffiti, etc." There are 691 books in his collection! Check out his photoset here.

Bottled Water in a Can

Only in Japan can you find a canned bottled water. The Japanese use it only during emergencies. I don't get it. The water is in a can but it has the words "bottled water" on it. Why bother putting bottled water in cans? Puzzling.

Superheroes who can't have sex

These sexually frustrated superheroes are so poor thing. What's the use of having all the powers in the world when you can't even have sex without injuring or killing your partner? Makes us mere mortals feel so relieved and thankful for not having all those powers aye. From io9:

Our two abstinent heroes are the Hulk and Hancock. Actually, in the case of Hancock, it's not strictly true that he can't have sex — according to early screening reports, he simply has to be very, very careful where, and how, he ejaculates. In one scene from Hancock (which had the original title of Tonight, He Comes) Hancock has brought a cute young thing back to his trailer, and they're getting busy. But then Hancock gets close to his climax, and warns the woman to back way, way up. Hancock gets off — and we see his semen riddle his ceiling with holes, almost like bullet holes.

As for the Hulk, there's a scene in Friday's new movie where Bruce Banner is in a motel room with Betty. They start to do what the young people do in motel rooms, and Bruce's heart-rate monitor gets more and more bleepy. His heart is pounding with the excitement of making out with a vacant-eyed Liv Tyler, it's too much for him, he's losing his shit, he's going to, oh my god, he's going to... he's going to... Bruce pulls away from Betty just in time to keep from becoming the Hulk. Yes, he can't get sexually aroused without Hulking out.

100 Movies/100 Days

Dude completed watching 100 movies in 100 days. You can read his reviews and screen captures of the movies he watched on his blog. From Scott Hamilton:

I’ve been trying to think of a project that would force me to post to this blog on a regular basis, and I was thinking about all the movies I’ve been meaning to see but haven’t. Last week I bought a new Sony portable DVD player. These disconnected bits ran around my head until this morning when I decided to embark on a new project: 100 Movies / 100 Days. My plan is to watch a movie a day for at least the next 100 days, and write something, however brief, on each one of them. Movie will mostly be on DVD, though I imagine I’ll get out to theater every now and again. There will also be a few digital download movies in there too.

A Gallery of Phone Sex Operators

Phillip Toledano’s new book Phone Sex takes us into the workspaces of 30 phone sex operators so we see their faces and also hear their stories. I bet people calling these sex chat lines will think twice if they know how the phone sex operators really look like. Scary.

Today's Singapore News

1) New cars imported as used - to attract less tax
2) Singapore erotic artist sees dim future for gay art
3) Local eco-groups now draw sponsors
4) Prices of eggs and some vegetables goes up
5) 4,000 S'poreans head Down Under for studies each year
6) SBS Transit says 120,000 bus fare cheats caught in a year
7) Singapore top Asian city with highest quality of living
8) Singapore will get iPhone 3G later than others
9) Fremont blogger raises Singapore's ire
10) HDB upgrading pace will continue despite rise in construction costs

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

You can also read I.Z. Reloaded on Reuters

As a blogger, it's always nice to have your posts linked to by other blogs, websites, forums, etc, but it's nicer when a big news company like Reuters uses your entire posts!

Here are just some of my blog posts that were used by Reuters: "SingTel confirms iPhone distribution in Singapore", "Blogger challenges MM Lee", "Nine Inch Nails gives away free album again", "More jobs or more jobless in Singapore?", "Exclusive: Singtel WILL launch iPhones on 08.08.2008", "Twitter first to break news on quake... again!" and "Everything you want to know about the Edison Chen photo scandal".

A big thank you to all who read my posts on Reuters.

FHM Singapore Cover Girls

You can view all the FHM Singapore 2007 magazine covers online but it's a pity that you can't click on each of them to view a larger version. I guess they want you to buy these back issues if you really want a bigger picture of Andre Fonseka in swimsuit or the rest of the FHM cover girls.

(Thanks Mr Big)

Celebrity READ Posters

Aishwarya Rai, Bill Gates, Orlando Bloom and even Stephen Hawking feature in these celebrity READ posters by the American Library Association. These celebrities donate their time and use of their photograph. They select their own book. The posters are sold on a non-profit basis primarily to libraries and schools.

(Thanks Gareth)

Austria wins Euro 2008!

Poor Austria. Nobody gives the Euro 2008 co-host any chance of winning the competition but that hasn't stop them from making a fake documentary about them winning it. The Miracle of Vienna takes a look back at Euro 2008, four weeks after Austria beat Netherlands 2-1 in the final. Dream on, you Austrians.

Reserve your iPhone 3G now!

SingTel and Apple have announced that they will be bringing the much anticipated iPhone 3G to Singapore later this year. But of course, this isn't news to those of you who read my blog because I wrote an exclusive post on April 1 about the iPhone in Singapore:

My source also told me that Singtel will offer the 8GB and new 16 GB iPhone models - both are 3G enabled! He said that they are still working out the pricing details.

And you guys thought it's an April Fool's joke aye. Gosh.

Over at SingTel's iPhone website, you can reserve an iPhone 3G. I tried leaving my particulars but after I click the "next" button, it says: "Currently iPhones can only be reserved at your local hello! store." Duh. So for those of you who want to reserve your iPhone, you need to personally go to a hello! store. You'll then be given a consideration period of one week from the date of notification by SingTel Mobile that the iPhone is available for sale.

The price of the iPhone, service packaging options, terms and conditions of sale will only be made known by SingTel when it is available and type approved by the IDA. No date has been announced by SingTel but according to my post (yup, that same April Fool's day post), SingTel will sell the iPhone on 8th August.

As for the price of the iPhone in Singapore, Apple's Steve Jobs has said that the price would be a "maximum of US$199 (for the 8GB model)" globally so that means we can expect it to be around S$270. Pretty cheap for an iPhone aye but there's a catch. Of course SingTel hasn't announced the pricing details yet but we can roughly predict them by looking at how AT&T will be selling their 3G iPhones in the US:

* With a two-year contract, the price of an 8GB iPhone 3G will be US$199; the 16GB model will be priced at US$299.
* Unlimited iPhone 3G data plans for consumers will be available for US$30 a month, in addition to voice plans starting at US$39.99 a month.
* Unlimited 3G data plans for business users will be available for US$45 a month, in addition to a voice plan.

So it's most likely that SingTel will also bundle their cheap iPhones with a long term contract (maybe 2 years) and you will also need to sign up for one of SingTel's 3G data plans - the most expensive is at $69.30 per month.

Today's Singapore News

1) SingTel and Apple to bring iPhone 3G to Singapore
2) Singaporean drivers are still leaving valuables in their cars
3) Some restaurants don't serve tap water because of profit margins
4) Bosses in Singapore slowing pace of hiring: Survey
5) Singapore viewed as easiest place to do business in Asia
6) Finance Ministry says 3/4-tank rule for cars going into M'sia to stay
7) Soccer bookies target the elderly in Singapore
8) Camera phone ban for peeping Singapore toilet teen
9) HDB wins UN Public Service Award for home ownership programme
10) Singapore organises contest for new multimedia search technologies

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

These Cookie Monster cupcakes by Poison Cupcakes look so cute and delicious that I'm sure Cookie Monster himself will approve of them. Take a look at more of her cupcake creations here. Yummy!

(via Cupcakes Take The Cake)

Star Wars Kites

Go Fly A Kite is releasing a brand new series of Star Wars kites that are sure to turn more than a few eyes skyward on windy days! I like their Darth Vader Superflyer Kite the best. Doesn't it look awesome? Now that's what I call a kite! The Star Wars Kites will ship from July onwards.

(via GeekAlerts)

Vintage Classical Album Covers

Flickr photoset of classical album covers from the 1940's and 50's, inspired by the work of pioneering graphic designer Alex Steinweiss, who first had the idea of 'album cover art'.

(Thanks Sir Thomas)

Dude thinks he's a swallow, builds giant nest next to tall building

Benjamin Verdonck thinks he is a swallow so he builds a giant nest (video above) on the side of Weena Tower in Rotterdam. No, he's not nuts (on a second thought, maybe he is!). He's actually a performing artist and that's his latest performance aptly named The Great Swallow. Looks kinda dangerous to me and the sadistic/evil part inside me wished that he would actually try to fly out of his nest and fall to the ground. Oh well, he did try and fall but of course, that's what he wants all of us to believe aye.

Slot Machine Drink Dispenser

You don't need any coin or matching symbols to win with this slot machine. Just pull the lever of the Slot Machine Drink Dispenser and your favourite drink will be poured into a glass. I can see this being very popular in our IR.

(Thanks Mr Big)

Giant Statues of Euro 2008 Footballers

Impressive Quictime VR of the giant statues of footballers from different national teams participating in Euro 2008 on display in Zurich train station. What's not so impressive are the stupid guards who insisted that photography of these statues is illegal because the images of these statues belong to Adidas and no one else.

Book of Japanese Monster Anatomical Drawings

I was intrigued after looking at this cool picture of the anatomy of Godzilla. It was taken from a book about Japanese monster anatomical drawings that was originally edited and issued in 1972. I found out that they did a recent reissue of the book (2008 edition) and it was sold in Japan for a short period of time. You can't buy it in bookstores anymore because it was discontinued but I found a dude who is selling two copies of the 2008 edition on eBay. He also posted some photos. Pretty cool stuff.

How to build a Mentos and Diet Coke Booby Trap

Here's a simple way to rig a bottle of Diet Coke with a string of Mentos so that it explodes when you unscrew the cap. What a great booby trap idea! Go try it at home and make a mess of your kitchen aye.

(Thanks GeekGod)

FHM's Top 100 Sexiest Women vs Maxim's Hot 100

What the Blog gives an in-depth analysis of FHM's Top 100 Sexiest Women and Maxim's Hot 100. From What the Blog?!:

1. For starters, FHM's top Megan Fox ranks 13th on Maxim's list, but Maxim's top gal Marisa Miller isn't even in FHM's Top 50 --she's only 53rd, right between Jenny McCarthy and Kate Hudson.

2. The two lists share only 44 women (although Maxim saved space by listing the Pussycat Dolls at 17th while FHM listed two of the dolls separately, Nicole Scherzinger at 62nd and Carmit Bachar at 96th.)

3. FHM and Maxim only agree 100 percent on one woman. Mila Kunis (of That '70s Show, the voice of Meg on Family Guy and of late the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall) is definitely the 81st sexiest woman alive.

Singapore Dissident: Blog Reactions

Lin Quan Zhong from the Asia Media Forum wrote a good piece about Gopalan Nair aka Singapore Dissident and highlighted some reactions by bloggers. The story is reprinted by Inter Press Service News Agency. From IPS:

Nair’s actions and disclosure of his personal details and location in Singapore, which to many sounded like an open challenge, were probably "the most daring or foolish act ever in the history of the blogosphere," added the writer of the blog called ‘I.Z. Reloaded’.

But in his blog ‘Sheep City’, Aidil Omar wrote that the real lesson in the Nair case is that "we common sheep are not allowed to air our disgust and frustrations towards the incorruptible and infallible members of the ruling government".

"The thing is no government is really true and honest, so every government tries to clamp down on these things [criticism]. But Singapore overdid it," said Tyler Goh, a Malaysian studying in Singapore." He added that "everything praises the People’s Action Party," the ruling party of the Singaporean government.

Previously: Blogger challenges MM Lee

Harajuku Girls are just plain weird

This week, I posted galleries of the sexy babes of Computex and Japanese teen models in bikinis and today, I got something different for you guys - Harajuku girls! Harajuku style originated among teens on the streets of the Harajuku Shopping District in Tokyo. It's just plain weird but for those of you who really like this kind of fashion, here's how you can dress Harajuku style.

Robot Cupcakes

I featured Naomi's wonderful cupcake creations sometime back. Now she has done a set of Robot Cupcakes. They are so cute and you can swap their heads, bodies and legs around.

Previously: Pacman Cupcakes

Trust No One: An Ode to The X-Files

Ele compiled an entire album dedicated to The X-Files. She writes, "I collected some X Files related songs which I like or just find silly and thought I should share them. I know there are more songs out there but I selected those 16 songs I like the most." My favourite tracks have to be Bree Sharp's David Duchovny and Catatonia's Mulder and Scully. Go download all of them here.

Today's Singapore News

1) What is Chee Soon Juan's game plan?
2) Restrictions follow Singapore critics to cyberspace
3) Motor workshops not linked to insurers see dip in repairs
4) Instant messages outpace SMS texting in Singapore
5) Properties marking modern Singapore's early years under threat
6) Singapore to cut road tax by 15% from next month
7) Fishermen to get the green light to fish at Pedra Branca
8) Manufacturing remains an important growth engine for Singapore
9) Singapore consumers to feel knock-on effects
10) New image for Singapore's male cabin crew

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

Singapore Bus Stops on Google Maps

SinGeo has updated its Singapore Bus Stops and Bus Services Map. Now it comes with more than 4500 bus stops and iRis integration! It's so damn good that it will put those people at SBS, SMRT and LTA to shame.

(Thanks Mr Big)

Save Energy and Win a Hybrid Car!

The National Environment Agency is holding a contest for all households in Singapore to reduce their energy consumption by 10%. Winner gets a hybrid car! From E2 Singapore:

To qualify for the 10% Energy Challenge Draw (the “Draw”), you must achieve electricity savings of 10% or more when you compare your household electricity consumption in Period A (January, February, March and April) against Period B (May, June, July and August).

For consumption readings of past months, you may refer to the bar chart on the reverse side of your SP Services utility bills (the ‘Bills’). You will only need the June 2008 and September 2008 bills to determine your electricity consumption for Periods A and B.

The Brands of Sex And The City: The Movie

Vanity Fair sent two reporters to watch Sex And The City: The Movie and spot the various brands that were shown in the film. It's product placements galore! From VF:

Gadgets:
Apple (Carrie’s computer)
iPhone (Samantha’s cell phone—not exactly Carrie’s style)
Blackberry (Miranda’s phone)
Bang & Olufsen (Samantha’s shapely phone in her Mailibu pad)
Dell (Miranda and Big’s computers)
Cuisinart (wedding gift for Carrie)
Sprint (Carrie’s service provider—flashed frequently)

Marlboro Transformers are more than meets the eye

Watch as two Marlboro cigarette boxes, a Durex condom box and two matchboxes transform and combine into one kick-ass super Decepticon. Great! Now I'm staring at the cigarette box on my desk and hoping that it can transform too.

Play the Bouncing Boobies Sudoku

For those of you who need a more challenging game than Sudoku, try this game out. It's like normal Sudoku except with bouncing boobies instead of numbers. I have no idea how it works but I must say it's very hypnotic.

(Thanks xXx)

Yoka Toy Charity Project

Hong Kong based toy designers adFunture have teamed up with DITA Eyewear, Staple Design, Suitman, Revelator, Black Cross, GUE and Puma to design a new toy called Yoka. Only 100 pieces will be made. All sales will be donated to Red Cross Society of China to help those folks in Sichuan.

(Thanks Shion)

Singapore Parking Rates

Roy writes, "Now that I have gotten my driving license, finding car parks in Singapore could be quite tricky, Few days ago I drove my friend’s car and I didn’t know about parking rates in Singapore and yeah I got charge more than $10 for only few hours. For me IT IS important to find the correct car park at the correct place and time." So he compiled all the parking rates in Singapore and made it available online. You can also download it to your iPhone. Cool!

Sexy Babes of Computex

Forget about the dozens of new product launches at Computex 2008, Taiwan's annual IT show. Here's a photo gallery of the real attraction at Computex - their sexy booth babes! More pictures here. As usual, enjoy!

(Thanks GeekGod)

3D Singapore Explorer

The folks at Earth@sg recently launched 3D Singapore Explorer using Google's Earth Plugin API. Now you can explore Singapore in 3D on the web. This should be fun. Site requires the Google Earth plugin. I'm downloading it now.

The Decapitator: Outdoor Ads Slasher

Dude goes around London and decapitates famous icons featured on outdoor posters. Poor Colonel Sanders. It's an art over there, but here in Singapore, the dude would most likely be caught for vandalism.

Real Life Flintstones Bedrock Town

The Flintstones Bedrock Town theme park in Valle, Arizona replicates the houses and vehicles featured in the Flintstones cartoon. Zee, who's been there before says, "Everything is broken down and the place is all crap. It is always as deserted as you see in these photos."

TIME interviews 3 Singapore filmmakers

Singapore filmmakers, Ekachai Uekrongtham, Brian Gothong Tan and Eric Khoo were interviewed recently by TIME about the relaxed attitude among Singapore's censors. From TIME:

KHOO: I started doing short films back in 1989, and I can feel the change. A lot of the stuff that I couldn't get away with back then, we can get away with now. I think that they do want the population to be more creative and self-expressive. That's basically it.

UEKRONGTHAM: Part of that relaxation could also be economically driven, because the government has expressly said that it wants to increase the GDP from the media sector by a certain percentage, and part of that is that they need to be seen as allowing freedom and creativity.

TAN: Yeah, Singapore is quite uptight in some senses. But I think the government is realizing that. Education has a lot to do with that as well — the kids of this generation are so in touch with everything. With the Internet and all that, it's so easy for them to get information at their fingertips.

(via Wise Kwai's Thai Film Journal)

Today's Singapore News

1) Steeper ups and downs for hotels in Singapore
2) Rental flats: HDB to weed out errant tenants
3) Singaporean motorists take Malaysia's petrol price in stride
4) More Singaporeans prefer to travel in December
5) Singapore crowned Best Airline for 6th time
6) More consumers switch to house brands
7) Flipped PIN e-mail tip exposed as a myth
8) S'pore will wait to see what new evidence M'sia can produce over Pedra Branca
9) MediaCorp goes green in support of World Environment Day
10) AVA monitoring Tyson chicken products

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

Japanese shows us how to make love without a partner

The Japanese called it Air Sex. The person performing it in front of a crowd, pretends to have sex with an imaginary partner. It's kinda like Air Guitar but 10 times crazier and 100 times sicker. No wonder these guys don't have a girlfriend.

Japanese teen models in bikinis

A photo gallery of a bikini fashion show held recently in Tokyo by swimsuit manufacturer San-ai featuring its Japanese teen models. Very nice bikinis and ahem, girls too. Enjoy.

(Thanks xXx)

TEN:15

Take out your camera at 10:15 am, take a photo that shows a random glimpse of your life at that moment and email it to the folks at TEN:15, an online experiment to see what one minute in time looks like in different places - a collection of life, work and play that revolves around 10:15 am.

Tracking MJ's White Glove

White Glove Tracking is a project where internet users were asked to help isolate Michael Jackson's white glove in all 10,060 frames of his performance of Billy Jean. 72 hours later, 125,000 gloves were located and the data was then used to create different visualizations of his Billy Jean performance like this one of him wearing a giant white glove.

Superman's Greatest Hits

Watch Superman as played by George Reeves, make a series of incredible entrances in the 50's TV program, "The Adventures Of Superman". As you can tell, you don't really need doors when you're Superman.

The Amazing Disappearance of Sunshine Empire Agents' Blogs

The guys at Hardware Zone forum exposed several blogs started by agents of Sunshine Empire, a company that is under investigation by the Commercial Affairs Department. These blogs were quickly shut down or made private by their owners but you can still view screenshots of some of them in this thread here.

Sunshine Empire was placed on the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) investor alert list and Malaysia's Securities Commission alert list. It is alleged that the company's business model is of a Ponzi Scheme or a Pyramid Scheme.

Copy artists pose with their "work"

Michael Wolf photographs copy artists posed in alleyways in China with their paintings. These artists make their living by copying masterpieces by Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, Roy Lichtenstein and other great Western artists.

Human Doormat for Parties and Events

Dude advertises his unique service on Craiglist: "I'll lay in a doorway with 'Welcome' written on my chest for people to walk over, or if an outdoor event, put me in the ground at an entrance way, or by a keg, and your friends can step on my face while getting a beer."

(Thanks Jim)

100 best movie posters of all time

Film critic lists his 100 best movie posters of all time. I don't agree with some of his selections like his number one choice - this poster for a film that I have never heard of called "The Sin of Nora Moran" - but as a fan of movie posters, I enjoyed looking through his list very much.

Magazine copies stories from blogs

A technology magazine is copying stories from blogs without crediting or asking permission from the bloggers who originally wrote them. From State of Telecom:

Flare Magazine, Islamabad based technology magazine, is known to copy and paste articles from the cyberspace. Now it has also started stealing content and headlines from blogs such as this one and others. If you look at the stories in Flare you will find that most (if not all) of them do not cite any references. Well, there are no authors as well. This is not limited to Flare, other news publishers seem to be doing the same. This shows the sad state of affairs for old media in Pakistan. The quality of reporting has been steadily going down but it has reached a new low with the stealing of content. If left unchekced, this will lead the next generation to think that it is ok to plagiarize and sell.

(Thanks Sir Thomas)

Today's Singapore News

1) En bloc sales bring out the worst in Singaporeans
2) Bring Your Own Bag Day now a weekly affair
3) Women cabbies: Only a few, but fearless
4) CDAC to lift needy Chinese out of poverty trap
5) LTA considers implementing more full-day bus lanes
6) Daily obstacle course for the disabled in Singapore
7) MAS updates guidelines on cyber-banking security
8) Rental firms 'leasing' cars from cash-strapped owners
9) U.S. lawyer charged in Singapore for insulting judge
10) 1.4m Singaporeans to be invited for screening of chronic conditions

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

Nokia Music Store hates Firefox... too bad

To the folks at Nokia Music Store, if you want me to review your website then at least please make sure that it is viewable in my browser!

I just don't get it. You guys have big hopes for your music store which opened here in April. You said that you opened the store in Singapore because residents here are tech-savvy. You said you want to fill iTunes' void in Singapore and replicate its success.

So what do you? Make your music store incompatible with Firefox, of course. What a pity. Don't you guys know that more and more people nowadays are using Firefox as their default internet browser? Great way to alienate yourself from the hordes of Firefox users aye. Oh, and not forgetting about your shitty DRM that comes with your MP3 tracks. Tsk. Big hopes indeed. iTunes, please save us!

Twittering your home's energy usage

Dude has found a really innovative use for his Twitter account. He rigged up his home to twitter its energy usage. From earth2tech:

The Twitter stream is an exercise in using the data from home automation feeds, and the hope is that, by making energy usage data transparent and easy to digest, it will change consumer behavior and reduce energy consumption...

Stanford-Clark runs the Pervasive and Advanced Messaging Technologies team at IBM in Hursley Park, and he recently told the folks at startup AlertMe more about the home setup. Updates are sent via sensors in the home, and the system uses an IBM middleware product to connect the service. Stanford-Clark also told AlertMe that he can turn the lights and the fountain on or off from a website.