Cheers and Happy New Year to all!

This is the last post of the year. What a year! 2008 has been a memorable year. The highlight for me has to be helping Guns N' Roses launch their album here in Singapore - on my birthday some more! I wanted this to be a "Best of IZ Reloaded 2008" post but after looking through my archive, I couldn't decide on a top 10. So do yourself a favour, take a look at my blog archive for 2008 and enjoy some of the posts again. Last words for the year. I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and let's pray hard that 2009 will be a better year. Party real hard tonight and if you drive, don't drink and if you drink, don't drive. Stay safe and I shall see you guys and gals next year. Love you all!

10 Asian bra TV advertisements not to be missed

The bra! Everybody loves it so I've compiled 10 Asian bra ads that I think everyone should watch. Some of these TV ads are cute, some are funny and some are totally hot! You can watch all 10 above. Enjoy the boobies. I mean bra.

Reviews! Reviews! Reviews! All the reviews on IZ Reloaded for 2008!

Now that 2008 is coming to a close, I thought it's a perfect time to take a look back at the reviews I did this year: Philips BTM630 Micro Hi-Fi System, Philips GoGear SA5245BT MP3 Video Player, Scarlet LG 70 HDTV, Football Manager 2009, Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, Sony Vaio Z, The X-Files: I Want To Believe, The Dark Knight, LG Secret, LG KS20 Smartphone, LG 42LB7RF HDTV and World Golf Tour. I hope you enjoyed reading them. Here's looking forward to more reviews next year!

Star Trek Captain Kirk's Chair

This replica of the Captain's chair on board the Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise will make anyone who sits on it feels like he is Captain Kirk. Chair comes with modern lighting and sound effects and phrases designed to thrill any Star Trek enthusiast.

Anna's Bento Sketches

Anna sketches the design for each of her lovely bento creations before actually making them. That makes sense - seeing how complicated some of her bento sets are. You can view her bento sketches here and her masterpiece bento sets here.

How to draw female manga characters

Techniques for Drawing Female Manga Characters is a book written by Hikaru Hayashi which provides detailed instructions for any aspiring manga artist to learn how to draw a female manga figure. Guys would especially be interested in Chapter 2, the part about boobies. It's very "educational".

The most frightening MP3s from across the globe

Sonic Warfare collects music from all around the world that transcends the merely bad and enters the realm of the surreal. I found a lot of gems there including Sam Hui's Tin Choy Baak Chi Chin Chin Chin (Genius Idiot Money Money Money).

95 Old School Games You Can Play Online

For those of you who miss wasting hours of your time playing classic video games like Counter Attack, Asteroids, Contra and Donkey Kong, now you can play them online for free - all 95 of them, rated and reviewed by the kind folks from Amog.

Directory of Typographic and Graphic Posters

Typo/graphic posters is a directory of posters with notable graphical or typographical quality. The directory has already compiled posters made by more than 120 designers! This one is done by Santiago Gregori from Spain.

(Thanks miki)

Philips BTM630 Micro Hi-Fi System: A Review

It was two weeks ago when I posted a review of the Philips GoGear SA5245BT digital MP3 video player. Today, I'm reviewing the Philips BTM630 Micro Hi-Fi System.

The Philips BTM630 is a small and elegant Hi-Fi system measuring 390 x 140.5 x 200.5 mm (W x H x D). It plays WMA-CD, MP3-CD, CD, CD-R, CD-RW and also music from any USB device and SD/MMC cards. On top of the BTM630, you'll find the iPod dock, SD/MMC slot and its controls.

The iPod dock is used to dock your iPod player for playback or for recharging. Most iPod models with 30 pin dock connectors are compatible with the dock. Playing a music from your iPod on the BTM630 is easy. Once docked, press Source to select iPod and the music starts to play automatically. While docking, your iPod also charges itself.

One of the main featues of the BTM630 is the ability to enjoy wireless music via Bluetooth technology. I recorded a video below to demonstrate this feature.



The Bluetooth capabilities of the BTM630 allow it to receive audio from Bluetooth enabled devices wirelessly like mobile phones, PDAs, MP3 players. It has an operational range of approximately 10m. Pairing your device with the BTM630 is easy and within minutes, you can start playing music from your device on the BTM630. The BTM630 also allows you to make or end calls of a connected Bluetooth enabled mobile phone. But I don't understand why would anyone want to use a Hi-Fi to answer phone calls.

You can rip music on the BTM630 to a connected USB device or SD/MMC memory card. I really love the speed of the rip. At 2X, it's very fast. But what I don't like is that the mp3 file doesn't have the music details like track name, etc. Instead the BTM630 renames it using numbers. There's no way to edit this using the BTM630. You'll need to use your PC.

Music quality of the BTM630 is surprisingly good. Well, above average to be exact but this isn't a system for audiophiles. Midrange is very good. Voices are correct and defined and all the high frequencies are there. Bass range however is not very deep. The BTM630 struggles when playing a music that has low bass. You can barely hear it especially when the other instruments are loud. The BTM630 has Dynamic Bass Boost which maximizes your music enjoyment by emphasizing the bass content of the music throughout the range of volume settings - from low to high – at the touch of a button. You would want to set this on everytime when you play your music.

The Digital Sound Control of the BTM630 offers you a choice of pre-set Jazz, Rock, Pop and Classic controls. I don't hear much of a difference between the Jazz, Classic and Pop controls - only on Rock. And worse, the BTM630 doesn't have a Graphic Equalizer which in my opinion, is a must in all audio systems.

Overall, the BTM630 is still a good enough system that will provide you with an acceptable sound for your home. Audiophiles may want to look for something better. Photos of the BTM630 here. It is retailing at S$329.

Previously:
Philips GoGear SA5245BT: A Review
Just in: Philips Micro Hi-Fi System and GoGear audio video player
Philips “Indulge Your Senses” Blogger Event

To Mars via The Moon: An Astronomical Story

I'm currently reading To Mars via The Moon: An Astronomical Story, a surprisingly delightful book published in 1911 that is part astronomy, part Utopian fiction and part adventure. It is about a man who makes a spaceship to visit the Moon and Mars. On Mars, he meets his dead son who is reincarnated as a Martian. You can read everything here. Here's an excerpt from Chapter IX:

"Mars revolves on its axis in 24 hours, 37 minutes, and 22 seconds, thus the 'day' on Mars is nearly 38 minutes longer than our 'day.' Phobos revolves round the planet in the very short period of 7 hours, 39 minutes, and 14 seconds, and therefore makes more than three complete revolutions round the planet in the course of a single Martian day. The peculiar phenomena to which this very rapid motion gives rise, and the numerous eclipses which occur, will be matters of great interest to us all when we reach Mars. Our moon, as you know, takes a month to make one revolution round the earth."

"Professor," said John, "when we get to Mars, it will be rather a curious experience for us to see two moons shining in the sky at the same time!"

"My word!" exclaimed M'Allister, "two moons shining at once! If I go out and see such a sight as that, I shall think the whisky has been a wee bit too strong for me!"

"Well," replied John, "if your usual drink has the effect of making you see double, take good advice, and leave the whisky severely alone when you are on Mars, or else you will be seeing four moons all at once, and receive such a shock that you will never get over it!"

Guide to the English Premier League January Transfers

The new year is coming and that means every English Premier League football fan will be anxious to see which new players their club will be buying when the transfer window opens. BBC Sport's comprehensive guide takes a look at the possible comings and goings at every Premier League club this coming January. From BBC:

TOTTENHAM, Budget: £15-20m.

January previous: Despite consistently maintaining January is not the best time to pick up bargains, chairman Daniel Levy has always put his hand in his pocket post-Christmas. Jermaine Jenas, Pascal Chimbonda and Mido have all arrived in Januarys past, while last year Gilberto, Chris Gunter, Alan Hutton and Jonathan Woodgate were signed at a cost of about £20m.

What they need: Striker, central defender, full-back, left winger, keeper.

Who they might buy: Take your pick… Portsmouth quartet Jermain Defoe, Glen Johnson, Niko Kranjcar and Sylvain Distin may fancy a reunion with Harry Redknapp, while Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Emile Heskey (Wigan), Brede Hangeland, Jimmy Bullard (both Fulham), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Carlo Cudicini (Chelsea) and Fernando Cavenaghi (Bordeaux) join a list as long as your arm.

Is this the ugliest website for a bridal shop ever?

You would expect a bridal shop to have a more elegant website design but not Yvette's. Their website is definitely the ugliest website designed for a bridal shop ever. It's shocking! Warning: Watch out for the irritating bag pipe music! Someone please shoot the web designer.

(Thanks GeekGod)

1979 Star Trek The Motion Picture Comic

Marvel Comics Super Special was a series of one-off comic books published by Marvel Comics from 1977 to 1985. In 1979, for their issue number 15, Marvel did a comic adaptation of the first Star Trek motion picture, which some say is better than the actual movie itself. Scans of the comic here.

(via Nerdcore)

Today's Singapore News

The following are stories that are making the headlines over at Topix Singapore News today, edited by yours truly.

-HDB offers 1,181 flats: The Housing Board has launched its last sales exercise for the year, offering 1,181 flats in Choa Chu Kang and Punggol ranging from studio apartments to five-room flats.
-Govt to bear 90% of risk for SME loans: The Singapore government will make it easier and cheaper for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to get access to credit to keep their business going.
-Rare multi-million-dollar watch theft in Singapore: More than five million US dollars' worth of watches have been stolen from a Singapore shop, the dealer said, in a rare crime of such magnitude in one of Asia's safest cities.
-Budget for Lunar New Year celebrations cut: The current economic slump has taken its toll on next year's Lunar New Year celebrations. For one, the fireworks display in Chinatown on New Year's day will be shortened from five minutes in previous years to three minutes next year.
-Govt to proceed with Jurong Lake District development: The Singapore government is proceeding to put in the infrastructure to facilitate the growth of Jurong Lake District.
-3 South West loos lauded: Accolades have been given to three toilets in the South West district as part of its annual Public Health Awards.
-Singapore 2010 launches two school programs: The Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee and the Ministry of Education announced the launch of two programs Monday - the Olympic Education Programme (OEP) and Friends@YOG.
-Anti-cancer jab is safe, say local docs: A recent case in Britain in which a 12-year-old girl was left paralysed after getting a new anti-cervical cancer vaccination has worried parents in Singapore.
-Renaissance City Plan to create high value-added jobs in the arts: Creating high value-added jobs for Singaporeans in specialised arts services such as conservation work, and attracting foreign artists to be based here are some of the initiatives under Phase 3 of the Renaissance City Plan.
-New tenant at Singapore Flyer organizes free concert: Party revellers can expect a back-to-back line up of performances by local Christian rock groups as they usher in the New Year. And that's because "Love the World Bistro Bar" -- the newest tenant at the Singapore Flyer -- will be hosting a free concert on New Year's Eve.

Please don't divorce my dads

"Please don't divorce..." is a community photo project by Courage Campaign to put a face to the 18,000 gay couples in California facing forcible divorce. View the photos over at the project's Flickr photoset here. Gays are people too, with families, as you can see from the photos. Splitting them up is just so wrong.

Doom 1 game now playable on your browser

Some dude has created a flash version of Doom 1, the first episode of the legendary first person shooter game. First released in 1993, Doom was downloaded by an estimated 10 million people within two years! No need to download this time. Just play it right on your browser.

25 Great Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strips

The folks from Progressive Boink showcase, in no particular order, some of their favorite Calvin and Hobbes strips of all time. Fans of Calvin, the imaginative six-year old boy and Hobbes, his energetic and sardonic—albeit stuffed—tiger, will love this one.

Mashup of Billboard's Top 25 songs of 2008

DJ Earworm's year-end mashup is now available for download! United State of Pop is a mashup of the Top 25 hits of the year, according to Billboard Magazine, arranged into a four and a half minute song. Not as good as his 2007 version but it's still worth a listen.

Scientist Action Figures

Some of this century's most notable scientific minds, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Nikola Tesla as miniature scientist action figures!

(Thanks GeekGod)

Soviet Mayan Playing Cards

I love these beautiful Soviet playing cards that are devoted to the Mayan culture. Check out the Joker cards! Apparently, Mayan motives were popular with the Russians back in the Soviet Union times.

(Thanks Wayne R)

Today's Singapore News

The following are stories that are making the headlines over at Topix Singapore News today, edited by yours truly.

-Boom to gloom for fresh grads: For fresh graduates, 2008 was supposed to be a year full of promise but now young people are finding themselves stuck with pay cuts and lower bonuses - that is, if they are lucky enough to be employed at all.
-Singapore government to kick-start deferred property projects: Development projects put on hold in Singapore because of the global financial crisis are to be re-started in a bid to help the struggling property sector.
-Singapore's private home sales, prices & rents fall sharply: Private home sales in Singapore have taken a sharp fall in the fourth quarter of this year. Only 112 private homes were sold in the primary market in October, and 192 units sold in November.
-Means testing feasible even during downturn?: The government is set to implement means-testing next month. The Health Ministry says a patient who is retrenched at the time of hospitalisation will enjoy full subsidy using means-testing.
-Should handphone, Net contracts be shorter?: Long contracts for handphone and Internet broadband subscriptions may soon be history. And if the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) has its way, the penalties that home subscribers pay for breaking these contracts early will be pegged to the length of time left on them.
-Households to receive $125m in rebates: More than 780,000 eligible HDB households will receive $125 million worth of Utilities-Save (U-Save) rebates in 2009. The rebates will be given out in January and July 2009.
-Singapore the first in Asia to use limb-lengthening technology for those wanting to be taller: It was initially devised as a method of leg lengthening for those with congenital growth abnormalities or trauma to the lower limbs. However, since it was introduced in 2001, Fitbone surgery has without much fanfare, slipped into the realm of cosmetics.
-Shorter wait for trains: Commuters on the Circle Line should find it a shorter wait for trains with the newest signalling system from Alstom, the French transport company which is also building the trains for the new SMRT line.
-Help for retrenched workers: The South West Community Development Council (CDC) has rolled out a series of aid schemes to help retrenched workers living in the south-western parts of Singapore.
-More parents sending children to art schools despite downturn: More parents are sending their children to art schools. The number of children competitions has been steadily increasing over the years as more performance schools open and more sponsors jump on board.
-New ez-link cards let you do more: Consumers will now be able to use a new ez-link card to do anything from paying for train and bus fares to Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) fees.
-No timeframe on when Flyer can reopen: Second Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam says it's not possible to provide a timeframe on when the Singapore Flyer's license will be reinstated.

Videos show Geylang is the most happening place in Singapore!

These videos taken from inside a slow moving car show illegal sex workers from China standing on the streets of Geylang Lorong 8, 10 and 12. Just what we need, more Chinese nationals flooding our country. Ha! Happening man! Part 1 above, Parts 2 and 3 here and here and lastly, a video of a pimp unloading his street pros here. Who says Singapore is such a boring place? Geylang is definitely not.

The Best Movie Posters of 2008

The folks from Get The Big Picture take a look at the best movie posters of 2008. Lots of cool posters in the list such as those from the movies Australia, Blindness, Burn After Reading and my favourite movie of 2008, The Dark Knight.

(Thanks Rickie)

Twilight Novels Papercraft

Julius has a gift for all you crazy Twilight fans out there - a miniature paper model of the Twilight books. He writes, "Just an idea, girls! you can hang the papercraft on your bag, and boys.. you can make them for gift for your girlfriend or your sister." I think what Twilight fans really want is a papercraft of Edward Cullen!

Fred's Vintage Comics Photoset

I love Modern_Fred's Flickr photoset of covers from old comics and books. There is a lot of very cool sci-fi stuff there including covers from Lost In Space comics that were published in 1960s.

(Thanks Maddy)

What happens to Singapore when it gets nuked

This map shows what happens when the same uranium bomb that was used in Hiroshima, goes off in Singapore. The area highlighted in circles show the thermal damage caused by the nuclear explosion. You can nuke your cities here to see the effects.

Trippy Japanese cartoon about two rabbits

Usavich is a trippy animated series produced by Kanaban Graphics for MTV Japan about two really odd rabbits imprisoned in a Russian prison and their escape. It's like watching Prison Break when you are high on drugs but instead of Michael Scofield and gang, you get two crazy bunnies. Watch an episode above. There's more here on its official website.

2009 Trend Visualisation Chart

This cool 2009 trend visualisation chart hints at some of the nasty things that the future could have in store for us. The PDF is free for download. I'm so not looking forward to the new year already.

Why kids must learn how to spell correctly

This was apparently written by a 3rd grader. As you can tell from his lovely writing, the boy has a thing for hores. Who doesn't? I love hores too! Ooops, I mean horses. Now where do I buy one?

Make Your Own Hot Sauce Kit

Fans of hot sauce can come up with their own killer blend with the Make Your Own Hot Sauce kit. It comes with 6 different spices, 3 bottles, instructions with pepper glossary, recipes, and handling and safety tips. Just make sure you don't kill all your taste buds.

Cup Noodle Tissue Holder

This cup noodle doesn't have any instant noodles inside but it holds a roll of tissue paper! Just lift the top and pull out the tissue. Pretty cute, I think. And it definitely will fool anyone.

(Thanks mikasan)

DJ Riko Merry Mixmas 2008

I forgot to blog this sooner. DJ Riko's Merry Mixmas 2008 mix is available for download. Some of the tracks include Nat King Cole's Toyland, Soul Saints Orchestra's Santa's Got a Bag of Soul and Winter Wonderland by Liz Phair. I love all his Christmas mixes and I've been downloading them every year!

Have a Merry Christmas and dance along with me!

It's that time of the year again! I would like to wish all my readers, friends, loved ones and everyone a merry Christmas - however you celebrate it - and happy holidays! Enjoy this little dance (video above, YouTube version here). There are more Christmas elf dances here: Charleston, Classic and Country. Enjoy and don't forget to go Elf Yourself!

Press Kit for the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special

Read the production notes from the 1978 official press kit for the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special. This extremely rare press kit comes with production info, black and white stills, and a nifty mini poster printed on shiny mylar stock. Pics here and here. You can watch the Star Wars Holiday Special here. Warning: It's the worst 2 hours of TV you'll ever watch.

Japanese Racoon Dogs have amazing balls

This series of comic prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi in 1842 shows the supposedly incredible ability of raccoon dogs to voluntarily enlarge their scrotums to perform a wide variety of tasks that includes fishing, sheltering from rain and fighting a catfish!

Make paper models of Santa, his reindeers and sleigh

Yamaha's special Christmas present this year is these delightful papercraft models of Santa Claus's reindeers and sleigh. Assembly instructions and models are available for download in PDF. And if you need Santa, you can download him here, courtesy of the folks from Paper Replika.

25 twisted short films for Christmas

Creepy Christmas is a project by Beck Underwood which showcases a new short film everyday from December 1 to December 25. Each film is directed by a different artist and delivers a new twisted take on the world's most loved holiday.

Fan-made Thundercats movie trailer with Brad Pitt and Hugh Jackman

WormyT made this amazing Thundercats live action trailer using Hollywood actors Brad Pitt, Vin Diesel, Hugh Jackman and soundbytes from the 80's Thundercats cartoon. All the effects were done frame by frame in Photoshop and the footage was edited in Adobe Premiere. You may be forgiven thinking that this is a real movie. Come to think of it, having the likes of Brad Pitt and Hugh Jackman in a Thundercats movie is not a bad thing after all. Thunder, Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats! Hoooooooo!

Passengers stranded on Singapore Flyer, GM says they "a bit disturbed". WTF!

I think they should change the tagline below the Singapore Flyer logo to this: "A moving experience at every turn. A harrowing experience when not turning." More than hundred people got that harrowing experience when the world's biggest observation wheel stopped for about six hours yesterday. 10 passengers even had to be lowered down by rope!

Steven Yeo, the general manager of the Singapore Flyer says that some trapped passengers were "a bit disturbed" by the experience. A bit disturbed? Steven, try getting stuck in one of your capsules for 6 hours, with no where to pee, and the music over your PA system driving you crazy and then, you still have to abseil down to safety. Let us know if you feel "a bit disturbed" after that. Photos here, here and some videos here and here.

ViO Video Mobile Converter

From the people who bring you Pirate Bay, comes this free ViO Video Mobile Converter, a software that converts virtually any video format file into a file that’s 100% compatible with your mobile phone or iPod, compressing it up to 20% of its original size without any reduction in image quality. I just downloaded it to try it out and it works great!

Portable karaoke machine for you karaoke freaks

Hi-Kara from Takara Tomy is the world’s smallest karaoke machine that plays popular Japanese songs. Just insert the cartridges loaded with the songs and you can begin to sing to the video and lyrics shown on its small colour monitor. They should make an English/International version. I'm sure it will sell like hotcakes.

(Thanks Johnny Q)

Credit Crunch: The Board Game

The folks from The Economist have created a board game that is free to download as part of their Christmas special. Called Credit Crunch, it is a game that best reflects the current economy. You can download the board, risk cards, currency and icons. Have fun playing it.

(via Super Punch)

Zouk Flyer comes with a Christmas/Fill-In-The-Blank New Year Mitten!

I love Zouk flyers! I think I must have amassed quite a collection over the years. Last week, I received Zouk's Christmas flyer (24 Dec 08 - 3 Jan 09) and it comes with, surprise, surprise, a mitten! The front of the mitten has a drawing of an alien hand and a promo of Zouk's Mambo Jambo Ho! Ho! Ho! Xmas Eve party and on the back of the mitten, you can write down your top 2009 resolutions. Lovely! Last year's Zouk flyers (here and here) for Christmas ain't that bad either.

Google Earth used to find new forest with undiscovered species

A British-led expedition found 7,000 hectares of forest, rich in biodiversity, known as Mount Mabu thanks to Google Earth. Here's the image of the forest from Google Earth. You can also check it out at Google Maps here. From Telegraph:

Julian Bayliss, a scientist for Kew based in the region, discovered Mount Mabu while searching on Google Earth for a possible conservation project. He was looking at areas of land 5,400ft (1,600m) above sea level where more rainfall means there is likely to be forest.

To his surprise he found the patches of green that denote wooded areas, in places that had not previously been explored. After taking a closer look on more detailed satellite maps, he went to have a look...

Within weeks they had discovered three new species of Lepidoptera butterfly and a new member of the Gaboon viper family of snakes that can kill a human in a single bite. There were also blue duiker antelope, samango monkeys, elephant shrews, almost 200 different types of butterflies and thousands of tropical plants.

Sony PlayStation 3 used to study black holes

A group of scientists is using 16 PlayStation 3 sets courtesy of Sony to study the properties of gravitational waves produced by the merger of two black holes. Amazing! And I didn't know that a single PS3 performs better than the highest-end desktops available. From PlayStation3 Gravity Grid:

The Sony PlayStation 3 has a number of unique features that make it particularly suited for scientific computation. First, the PS3 is an open platform, which essentially means that one can run a different system software on it, for example PowerPC Linux. Next, it has a revolutionary processor called the Cell processor which was developed by Sony, IBM and Toshiba. This processor has a main CPU (called the PPU) and several (six for the PS3) special compute engines (called SPUs) available for raw computation. Moreover, each SPU performs vector operations, which implies that they can compute on multiple data, in a single step. Finally, its incredibly low cost make it very attractive as a scientific computing node i.e. part of a cluster. In fact, its highly plausible that the raw computing power per dollar that the PS3 offers, is significantly higher than anything else on the market today!

(via Science Fair)

1978 Marvel Comics Superheroes Card Game

In 1978, Marvel Comics released their Superheroes Card Game. It's played like Old Maid featuring Dr Doom as the Old Maid and other Marvel characters like Spider-Man, the Hulk and Captain America. Dave scanned the cards here.

Cute and Pop! 60s Girls Comics by Eiko Hanamura

PingMag interviews Eiko Hanamura who is a pioneer of Japanese girls comics. Eiko has worked as a manga artist for half a century. She says, "One day, I told the owner — who was a manga artist for rental books — that I studied painting at Joshibi University and showed my paintings. All of a sudden he said I should draw manga.”

Apollo 8: Remembering NASA's giant leap to the moon

This week, NASA celebrates the 40th anniversary of Apollo 8, the first manned voyage to orbit the moon. The crew of Apollo 8 were the first humans to see the far side of the Moon and the first humans to see Earth from the orbit of another celestial body. Watch the animated comic of the historic mission here and download the original Apollo 8 press kit here.

Monopoly Repackaged

Andy Mangold redesigns the packaging of the classic board game Monopoly: "The final package is just over 10" x 10" x 1.5" and includes smaller containers for all of the various pieces and cards and a laser-cut holder for all of the houses and hotels." Classy!

(Thanks Martin)

Onion fake gift boxes to hide that crappy gift

These boxes look like they contain a real gadget but there isn't a portable pet feeding/watering system for your MP3 player, or a personal debris removal system, or a USB toaster, or a carrying case that clips on your cap! These crazy gadgets aren't real but the empty boxes are. Wrap your otherwise forgettable gift in one of these gift boxes by Onion and play a prank on your friends this Christmas.

Homemade Wall-E robot

Dude uses parts from his stock of components lying around his basement and electronics room to make a 150mm x 150mm x 160 high Wall-E robot. It can move its arms up and down, pan and tilt its head, open its door and has ultra sonic for the eyes and 4 IR sensors around the base for edge detection and an IR sensor between the eyes for long range.

(Thanks GeekGod)

How to turn any monitor into a Desktop VR Display

In this video, PhD student Johnny Lee explains how he uses a Nintendo Wii remote to turn a normal TV into a desktop VR display. Using the infrared camera in the Wii remote and a head mounted sensor bar with two IR LEDs, you can accurately track the location of your head and render view dependent images on the screen - transforming your display into a portal to a virtual environment! Come on, give the man his PhD!

Being Batman

I've just added Being Batman to my RSS reader. Vinny Goldsmith started the blog so that he can document the real world examples of Batman training, equipment and knowledge, and hopefully learn how one can become the famous caped crusader. From Being Batman:

Batman has always fascinated me. He’s the one main Super Hero who has no super-human powers at all.

If the comics are to be believed, and his origin story is plausible, then any man (or woman) who has enough drive, determination and wealth can become as formidable as Bruce Wayne did when he became Batman...

Is it possible that one man (a boy for the early part of it) could learn all these skills to the degree that Bruce Wayne did in the 12 years he was away from Gotham City? With this blog, I’m going to try and find out.

Twittering from a plane crash

Dude survives a plane crash and becomes the first person in the world to send live updates to his Twitter from the wreckage of a plane. From Tech Radar:

"Holy f****** shit," Wilson tweeted on Saturday night as 2drinksbehind. "I was just in a plane crash!"

The updates that followed included a blurry picture of the scene:

17:57: Ugh ... My glasses fell off in the mass exodus getting off the plane .. Can't see very well

17:58PM: This was crash #2 for me. Maybe I should start taking the bus.

Today's Singapore News

The following are stories that are making the headlines over at Topix Singapore News today, edited by yours truly.

-Online shopping is catching on during Christmas: More Singaporeans are spending their time and money online doing their Christmas shopping. Some of the more popular gifts purchased this festive season include gaming console Play Station, branded bags and tech gadgets like iPhone.
-Smaller shops besting department stores: Department stores are facing pressure from cheaper, smaller shops this Christmas as shoppers hunt for value and good bargains.
-Singapore and World Bank join forces: The World Bank Group and the Government of Singapore announced on December 17 the formation of a unique partnership that will bring together the Bank’s global development knowledge and Singapore’s recognized expertise, particularly in urban management.
-Bus operators in a fix: Many bus operators say they do not have enough buses to ferry both schoolchildren and workers at the same time, if more schools start at 8am, the time that many factory workers begin work.
-Flexi working hours catching on in Singapore: The trend of working flexible hours is catching on, albeit slowly, among Singaporeans, be it in the private sector or government.
-More employees taking sick leave: More employers are going beyond the basic statutory requirements to provide various family-friendly leave benefits, reported a survey from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
-Keeping transport costs low: With 2009 shaping up to be a 'difficult year', the Government will try to moderate public transport costs next year, said Transport Minister Raymond Lim yesterday.
-CPF cut not justified at this point in time: Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Boon Heng pointed out that the wage structure in Singapore has enough flexibility such that a CPF cut should be a last resort.
-Singapore students continue to fare well in school: Singapore students continue to perform well in the national examinations. This is according to figures released by the Education Ministry, covering the years 1998 to 2007.
-Australia watchdog sues Singapore Airlines Cargo: Australia's competition watchdog sued the cargo unit of Singapore Airlines on Monday, the third carrier it has prosecuted on allegations they were involved in international price-fixing.

1978 Star Wars Cartoon

This is the animated segment from the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special, featuring some of the popular Star Wars characters including Boba Fett! The Star Wars Holiday Special has been called by some as the worst two hours of television ever. You can watch the entire thing here.

Sexy robots show how to "do it" their way

The Sex Life of Robots is an ongoing film project by Michael Sullivan. It is a stop-motion film exploring how robots have sex! The robots or pornobots, are made out of Barbie dolls, G.I. Joe action figures and other toys. Not safe for work.

Help a company choose which of its employees to fire

A Belgian communication agency is having problems during the economic crisis so it is asking Internet users to help it choose which one of its 8 employees to fire. Apparently, the management can't choose so it is doing the next best thing, letting outsiders decide. Great! Being retrenched is already bad enough but this is worse.

Radio Controlled Model Tanks

Over at Mark-1 Tank, you can buy radio controlled model tanks that look really like the real thing except that they are many times smaller. Oh well, small isn't the correct word to use especially when it comes to their 1/4th scale model of the Tiger 1 tank. It is 63" long, 36" wide, 28" tall, has a gun and weighs 200kg!

Kevin's Vintage TVs

Kevin has a small collection of vintage television sets. He started collecting them about 6 years ago. You may be surprised at some of the rare TVs in his collection like this 1947 Motorola VT105, one of the earliest Motorola TVs, with a 10 inch screen and stepped-down sides.

(Thanks Dylan32)

Burger King's new perfume makes you smell like a burger

Hot on the heels of its much talked about Whopper Virgins taste challenge, Burger King has announced that it is entering the perfume business! Flame is Burger King's new body spray with the scent of seduction and a hint of flame-broiled meat that will apparently make you irresistible to women. I don't know. Do chicks love guys smelling like a burger?

The Bush Shoe Throwing Game

The recent Bush shoe throwing incident has started a meme involving animated gifs and now a flash game! Objective of the game is to hit President Bush's face with a shoe, as many times as you possibly can. And the best thing is you don't even have to go to jail for it.

Barrack Obama: The College Years

Amazing black and white photos taken by 20 year old aspiring photographer Lisa Jack back in 1980 shows the very cool, charming, cigarette smoking Barrack Obama during his college years. He was only a freshman when these photos were taken for Lisa's portfolio.

(Thanks Sir Thomas)

Christmas tree made from 70 SCSI hard drives

Some employees decided to recycle 70 SCSI hard drives from their six decommissioned old HP/Compaq servers and use them to make a very shiny Christmas tree. Trigger, one of the employees says, "Instead of formatting every hard drive (would have taken weeks performing a DoD level wipe) and disposing them all together with the servers, I decided to disassemble the hard drives and recycle them into something neat."

Take this pill and stop your pee

Lady Guard is the first over-the-counter medicine in Japan for women who have hypersensitive bladder. Pop in a pill and the drug will alleviate frequent urination. Great when you need to shop all day long.

(Thanks Eli)

Teach your fish new tricks

The R2 Fish Training School Kit is a complete training system that includes everything you need to teach your fish over 10 amazing tricks. Get your boring fish to play football, basketball, limbo, fetch, tunnels and more! Comes with an instructional DVD to help you train your fish into a champ.

How to Build a Kick-ass $800 Gaming PC

A good gaming PC can cost quite a bit but with only US$800, you can build yourself a computer that will surprisingly kick some gaming ass! From Maximum PC:

We put this $800 PC up against our standard zero point machine to see how it matches up against a rig that costs twice as much. It’s not hard to guess that the zero point system with a Core 2 Quad and a Velociraptor would beat our budget rig on every test possible, but the $800 wonder did surprisingly well in some of the tests. Premiere Pro tests showed a two minute difference but in Photoshop we only experienced a 4 second difference while Photodex ProShow Producer showed a 41 second difference. MainConcept Reference hit our budget PC hard, though, and further shows that MainConcept is optimized for four cores.

We went into our gaming benchmark with low expectations from our budget card, the Radeon HD 4850. Obviously, it is no match against the dual GeForce 8800 GTX setup in the Zero Point system. With settings cranked up to the max, our card was barely able to spit out 16 FPS in Crysis. While playing Crysis at the highest settings possible and a resolution of 1920x1200 simply isn’t an option, turning down the graphic settings to medium resulted in 43 FPS made the game much more playable. Unreal Tournament 3 managed to give us a stellar 78 FPS. If you’re running at typical 22-inch LCD resolutions, this machine should kick ass.

Today's Singapore News

The following are stories that are making the headlines over at Topix Singapore News today, edited by yours truly.

-Capitol Building, Capitol Theatre put up for sale: Prepare for a change of scene at the historic Capitol Theatre, which has been put up for sale. Despite the current downturn, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said the land on which the building is located will be put on the reserve list.
-Rolex appeal fades as recession blues hit Singapore: Suffering from recession blues and looking to offload that new Rolex watch? Don't turn to us, say second-hand luxury stores in Singapore, who are being swamped with requests from people desperate to sell their luxury goods.
-Kids okay with sharing explicit photos, text: Of the 50 teens aged between 13 and 19 polled by The Sunday Times, a quarter of those surveyed said that they have received nude pictures while 6 per cent said they have received sexually suggestive texts.
-9 researchers receive S$2m in funding: Nine researchers from Singapore's institutes of higher learning have become the first to receive funding from the National Research Foundation to turn some of their ideas into commercial viabilities.
-Singapore affected by Madoff: There are indications that investors in Singapore have also been affected by the multi-billion Madoff fraud that shocked the world.
-Investors to get news in Jan: Officials from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have run spot checks on financial institutions that sold Lehman-linked products to ensure investors' complaints are handled properly.
-NEA reminder for the festive season: Members of the public taking part in the Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve countdown parties along Orchard Road, Marina Bay and other locations in Singapore are reminded not to litter.
-Ban on China milk products lifted: Singapore has lifted the ban on the import of milk and milk products, including products which contain milk as an ingredient, from China.
-Singapore reports fall in shipping traffic: Singapore, the world’s biggest container port, suffered last month its first fall in throughput traffic since 2001 due to a slowdown in global exports that has affected the Asian shipping industry.
-Church sues Bible college directors: A church in Singapore and its affiliated Bible college have gone to court after they fell out over each other's interpretation of a particular doctrine.
-S$73.7m to be given to needy patients this year: In light of the economic slowdown, the Ministry of Health (MOH) is expected to give out more financial aid to needy patients who can't pay their medical bills, even after government subsidies.

Lego Star Wars Nativity Scene

Larry Lars uses Lego Star Wars minifigs to create this scene out of the Bible! But instead of the baby Jesus, he puts the Skywalker twins - Luke and Leia. You can read an interview with Larry here and view more photos of the Lego Star Wars Nativity scene here.

(Thanks vivik)

Japan’s Hi-Tech Toilets

PingMag interviews Mariko Shimasaki from toilet manufacturer Toto about toilets in Japan. Mariko on why toilets in Japan are so advanced: "In Japan, the bathtub and toilet are in separate rooms, so it is possible to use electric appliances in the toilet room. I think this fact is closely related to the development of toilet technology."

Yorozu Audio Revolution Kit

You can now project audio through cardboard, posters, plastic bottles, whiteboards and more with the Yorozu Audio Revolution Kit. Just place the vibrating extension onto a surface with the included adhesive sheets, plug in your audio source, and you'll get an instant audio speaker. Comes with a paper milk carton “speaker”.

V-Beat Drumsticks lets you drum in the air

I really want this for Christmas. I do! Being an avid drummer, it sucks not to have a drum set at home. These V-Beat Drumsticks come close. They are a pair of motion-sensitive sticks that are attached to a controller. Also included are two foot pedals. Simply hit the air where the respective drums and cymbals should be, and tap the pedals with your feet and you'll get yourself a fully functional invisible drum!

Make your own V Skyfighter papercraft

Remember V, the 1980's sci-fi series on TV? You can make a papercraft of the Skyfighter craft used by the alien visitors in V. There is an easy version to download and a difficult version that will take you around 15 hours to make. Go for the easy one.

Mum finds out son's been wanking on the job

Mum reads son's diary and finds a disturbing entry where he describes his liking for wanking into the soup at the Chinese buffet restaurant he works at. That's sick! Desperate for help, she turns to Yahoo Answers. Thank god, he isn't working in my favourite restaurant. From Yahoo Answers:

Well, I came across his diary this morning and had a peek. Stuart wrote that he likes to masturbate into the bucket of soup they have in the fridge at the restaurant. He wrote that he sneaks the bucket of egg drop soup into the bathroom in the back and will masturbate into it.

I'm not sure what to do. He's a sweet boy, and this job has been wonderful for him. I don't want to say anything to him because I don't want to embarrass him and I don't want him to lose his job.

And besides, I don't think anybody would notice anyway because egg drop soup has them white stringy things floating around in it anyway. What people don't know won't hurt em. What should I do?

Dude blogs about his sacking from Yahoo

George who was previously working on The Commons on Flickr, had a nasty surprise recently when he found out that he had been fired by Yahoo. He's one of the many affected by Yahoo's recent job cuts, no thanks to the turbulent global economy. From kewlchops:

"I'll just get straight to the point. You've been affected by the layoffs."

He told me he was reading from a script he was required to follow, and that he needed an address to send some sort of "Agreement" to me in Australia, and needed it sent back by December 19. Before I'd even finished the call, I twittered (to my private account):

"Wow. I just got fired." I was immediately distressed.

I stayed up until about 2:30am that night, chain smoking and talking to friends who saw my tweet and had responded - THANK YOU. I sent a formal request for time to transition The Commons program to whoever is to take it over: "A week should do it," I said. It was denied.

How to protect yourself from sandwich pirates

We all love our sandwiches and we hate it when someone steals them from us. Here's a simple way for you to prevent sandwich pirates from snatching away your prized possession. It's simple and ingenius!

(Thanks primus)

Nicotine free cigarette with Vitamin C

The Mismo cigarette is a battery powered cigarette that emits flavored steam in your mouth when inhaled. It glows using a small LED light at the tip. Mismo converts moisture from the air into steam to inhale. You can choose between a grapefruit or mint flavour. And the best part, it has no nicotine or tar, but only the goodness of essential nutrients CoQ10 and Vitamin C!

Rodeo Boy shows Osim iGallop how it's done!

Thanks to Osim iGallop for starting a worldwide craze for those rocking sexercise machines. This one is from Japan and it's called the Rodeo Boy. Check out the commercial (video above). It starts off with a cowgirl riding the Rodeo Boy. Hey, have we seen that before? Then take a closer look at the guy. It does look like he is having a boner to me. Can't blame him. If girls love riding it, I'm sure guys would too. The ad sure beats the iGallop ad hands down alright. Oh wait, Osim is calling it the uGallop now.

Previously:
Head Kenzan massager will give Osim uCrown a run for its money
Osim uVibe is every girl's best friend

Philips GoGear SA5245BT: A Review

The Philips GoGear SA5245BT is one of Philips' exciting, new introductions to its GoGear flash audio/video line. It features Bluetooth technology and Philips patented FullSound technology for enriched MP3 sound quality. FullSound technology combines Philips' renowned expertise in music reproduction with the power of the latest generation Digital Signal Processor (DSP). DSP dynamically enhances its frequency spectrum giving the music a fuller bass with greater depth and impact and restores a sense of spaciousness that is lacking in compressed audio. It also enhances sound precision and detail.

Weighing at 0.095 kg and with dimensions of 106 x 9.9 x 58mm (WxDxH), the SA5245BT has a built in memory capacity of 4 GB using NAND Flash. It has a 2.8 inch display with 320 x 240 pixels, 262K resolution.

The digital MP3 video player plays MP3, WMA, AAC music files and WMV and MPEG4 videos. It also lets you view JPEG photos, listen to the radio, record voice and radio.

I received the SA5245BT last Thursday together with the Philips BTM630 Micro Hi-Fi System (review at a later date). The SA5245BT sounds surprisingly good with its premium headphones. The headphones are designed according to the curvature of the human canals, and has a noise isolation feature that directs soundwaves from the speaker to your ear drums with the highest definition. Combine with the headphones, the SA5245BT in my tests, gives a sound quality that is better than the iPod! Video playback however isn't that good. The SA5245BT plays only WMV and MPEG4 but with its Media Converter that you have to install on your computer, it will convert AVI, MOV, RM, WMV etc to a file that is playable.

Playback controls on the SA5245BT are achieved through the keypads located to the right of the display. Double action search keys allow easy speed control when scrolling through large libraries. You can choose to move through your playlist one song or video at a time or just press and hold down a little harder to SuperScroll swiftly to your desired file.

Besides the good sound quality and the premium headphones, I also like the fact that the SA5245BT lets me listen and record radio. The voice recording function will also come in handy sometime. Battery life in my tests is pretty good. After a full charge of about 4 hours, the SA5245BT will play audio up to 24 hours, pretty close to the 30 hours that Philips claims. The SA5245BT Bluetooth technology is also a good feature. It allows easy wireless connection to other Bluetooth devices on the go and enables you to use a Bluetooth headset.

What I don't like about the SA5245BT is that it only has a 4GB memory, which in today's standard, is a bit lacking, considering that it is supposed to be a video player too. The display is only horizontal. It doesn't automatically rotate to vertical when you change the orientation of the SA5245BT. There's no way to do this manually either. Charging the SA5245BT requires that I plug it to the computer using the USB. It's fine when you have the computer or notebook around but it will be nightmare when you're traveling and there's no computer for you to charge the SA5245BT. I don't think Philips sells an optional charger.

The Philips GoGear digital MP3 video player SA5245BT retails at a recommended price of S$249. You can view my photos of the SA5245 here.

Previously: Just in: Philips Micro Hi-Fi System and GoGear audio video player

Bush shoe throwing incident sparks animated GIF meme

I know it's just a matter of time until some folks with a lot of free time in their hands, decide to create their own versions of the Bush shoe throwing incident in animated GIFs. You can view some of them here. They are all very funny. You can also watch more here, all compiled in a nice little video clip.

Sega Mega Drive Tote Bag

This is what I really call "old school"! This tote bag is designed to look like the classic Sega Mega Drive (aka Genesis). I think I still have the console stuffed in a box somewhere together with a stack of old Sega game cartridges.

Yahoo! Messenger Emoticarolers

You know it's the Christmas season when Yahoo gives you the chance to irritate the hell out of your friends simply by sending them these Emoticarolers. Choose four Emoticarolers, select a holiday jingle and click send to spread some holiday cheer to your friends and loved ones. Just don't send them to me.

Flying Saucers for everybody!

Scans from an article in the March 1957 issue of Mechanix Illustrated says that within ten years we may all be commuting by plastic saucer, flying from our backyard! Hmmm. It's already late 2008 now, going to 2009 and still no personal flying saucer. I'm pissed!

(via Nerdcore)

How to make an improvised gas mask

Dude shows us how he made his own gas mask from a snorkel, a tin can and some charcoal he made from coconut husks. His gas mask was inspired by the successful British Small Box Respirator used in WW1 and according to him, it really works. Great! Just what we need during an apocalyptic chemical attack.

The World's Smallest Humanoid Robot

The smallest humanoid robot in production has 180 preprogrammed individual movements and can respond to verbal commands, and performs up to 240 movements in sequence. Thanks to its precise mechanics, it can somersault, stand on one leg, do push-ups, perform martial arts, and even reenact a cowboy duel from an American Western!

Today's Singapore News

The following are stories that are making the headlines over at Topix Singapore News today, edited by yours truly.

-A safer S'pore-M'sia bus ride?: At the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case), the number of complaints against express bus operators have almost doubled from 11 last year to 21 so far this year.
-Festive aid for needy families: In the festive spirit of giving, a group of 35 cabbies from ComfortDelGro will be helping to deliver food hampers to 1000 beneficiaries of The Boys' Brigade Sharity Gift Box from now till end of the month.
-Singapore seeks spot on medical tourism itinerary: The Singapore Sling isn’t just a cocktail anymore. The city-state at the tip of the Malay Peninsula is now touting its medical services, including joint-replacement surgery, to patients around the world.
-Study shows Singapore safe from tsunamis: A study commissioned by the National Environment Agency (NEA) has confirmed that there is a low probability of Singapore being affected by a tsunami.
-Drug smugglers using Singapore for transit: Drug smugglers are increasingly using Singapore as a transit point to ship heroin to the United States and Europe, despite some of the world's strictest drug laws in the city-state.
-Singapore's economic growth below 2.5%: Singapore's economy this year could grow below the government's estimate of 2.5 percent, as the open economy suffers from the global economic slowdown.
-No limits to having fun?: ZoukOut happens only once a year, so why not let the revellers let their hair down and have their fun? Teen counsellors and parents whom The New Paper spoke to feel that partygoers can have their fun without having to get so sloshed.
-Cyber bullies turn vicious: Psychologists, counsellors and teachers are worried that the methods of Singaporean cyber bullies have morphed into something more vicious than before.
-Carrot for performers: The recession is not stopping some bosses from throwing cash at top talent.
-National Wages Council to review guidelines: The National Wages Council (NWC) will reconvene in January 2009 to review its wage guidelines issued in May this year. This follows Singapore's weakening economic growth as a result of the global financial crisis.

The Star Wars Bathroom

Dude shows off the Star Wars collection in his friend's home on his Flickr set here. Above is a photo of the bathroom filled with Star Wars goodies. You can spot the X-wing and the Millennium Falcon on the shelf. My mum would have killed me if I left my toys in the bathroom.

Author selling the movie rights to his short story collection

Mark Reynolds is selling the movie and television rights to his book Dark Wonders for US$12,000. The book is a collection of 25 tales of horror and dark fantasy. From eBay:

Up for auction is Movie / Television Rights to all twenty-five stories included in my collection, DARK WONDERS. These stories would make excellent TALES FROM THE CRYPT ("Rolled Rules") & TWILIGHT ZONE ("Pick-Up Day") type features.

My wife and I recently adopted a little baby from China and almost immediately after arriving home I broke my leg. Funds have been short ever since and I am hoping to recoup lost money while offering someone with the extra cash an opportunity to take these tales and expand, improve, or just film them. I guarantee there is enough frightening material within the pages of this collection to land a big movie contract - I just don't have the time nor the connections to prove this. I hope you do!

The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Day the Earth Stood Still, now showing in cinemas, is a 2008 remake of the 1951 film (trailer above) of the same name. Starring Keanu Reeves as the humanoid alien Klaatu, the film updates Cold War themes like nuclear warfare to the more contemporary issue of man's environmental damage to the planet. I've watched it recently and the only thing about the movie that impressed me greatly was Keanu's ability to speak Chinese. They should give him an Oscar for that! The movie is above average and it starts out with plenty of promise but fails to deliver. In the end, it just falls flat. For those of you who are going to watch it, I recommend watching the 1951 version first. You can watch the entire movie here. So which one do you prefer? The original or the remake?

Pink Barbie P520 Cellphone

Don't think this would get the blessings of the folks from Mattel but the Chinese have gone ahead anyway to sell this Barbie P520 cellphone. It's pink, has a 2-inch 260K color pixel display, a 1.3MP camera, up to 2GB of expandable memory, two SIM cards, a music player, and both USB and Bluetooth support. It also doubles up as a makeup mirror.

Awesome Star Wars and Star Trek Christmas Tree

Mike says of his Christmas tree that will have the eyes of any Star Wars and Star Trek fan lit up with joy, "In 1997, when Hallmark started the light and sound Star Trek ornaments, my mom bought the original NCC-1701 Enterprise ornament. Every year since then my wife and I have tried to collect them all, including the Star Wars ones."

Classic hip hop album covers in Lego

I'm no hip hop fan but I'm sure there are some of you who would appreciate these 20 classic hip hop album covers such as Dr Dre's The Chronic and The Diabolical Biz Markie's The Biz Never Sleep, all recreated using Lego minifigs!

(via Geekologie)

DJ Riko Ringtones

Now you can have your favourite mashups by DJ Riko as a ringtone for your mobile phone. I'm downloading Whistler's Delight! There are 14 ringtones free to download. All files are available in mp3 and m4r formats.

Puki is scary but fun flash game to play

On a mission to Deep Space Station G-7, you pick up a cute and harmless Puki as a pet which begins to reproduce into evil little monsters after exposure to radiation. Damn those Gamma rays! Your job is to race through the corridors of your ship and kill as many Pukis as you can or be killed. Good luck.

Journalist throws shoes at Bush! Bush ducks. Darn it!

US President George Bush during his final visit to Iraq, gets a gift from a journalist during his press conference. The angry journalist threw his shoes (video above) at Bush but missed, thanks to Bush's amazingly quick reflexes. Immediately after the incident, Bush said that he's fine with having shoes thrown at him, comparing it to being yelled at by people at a political rally, and driving on the street and having people not gesturing with all five fingers. Funny, this Bush.

30 ways to shock yourself

30 hilarious pics that show you how to give yourself an electric shock. You can pee on an electrical line, blow your hair and touch the tap at the same or milk a cow while its tail is hooked to a lamp pole. Kids, please don't do any of these!

Masters Of The Universe Toy TV Commercials

Adrameleck has posted several old TV ads of He-Man and the Masters Of The Universe toys. I've watched most of them as a kid and watching them again definitely brings back those good old memories. I remember everytime I watch a new He-Man toy commercial, I would yell to my mum, "Mummy, I want that one!"

Picture Book displays your favourite book

Picture Book is a wooden frame that lets you display your favourite book cover on the wall or on top of a table without ripping the cover off. I love this! It's definitely a great way to show off your books that are lying "hidden" on your shelf.

(Thanks Sir Thomas)

Peanut Butter Machine

Just what I need, a Peanut Butter Machine to make my very own warm, delicious peanut butter at home! Just fill the top bin of the machine with peanuts, macadamia, sunflower, cashews, etc and then select chunky or smooth texture. Yummy!

Wonder Women of America

Wonder Women Of America celebrates how women at Comic Con choose to express themselves, their interests, their freedom and their sexuality by dressing up as fictional characters. Compiled over 4 days at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con, Wonder Woman of America contains 185 photos of more than 100 women, dressed for thrills. You can view some of them here.

Woman injects cooking oil into face. WTF!

Don't ever inject cooking oil into your face! Han Hegyon, a former singer in Korea, destroyed her face by injecting cooking oil into it because she thinks that silicon injections are not enough. Watch the video above. I'm speechless.

Beautiful Geishas drawn by Koralie

French artist Koralie does the most beautiful illustrations of geishas that I have ever seen. Koralie's work is often inspired by Japanese illustrations from 13th century prints to modern day mangas.

Electric Paper Plane Launcher

Why bother throwing a paper plane with your hand when you can launch it in style with the Electric Paper Plane Launcher? The kit comes with spinning motors and plastic discs that once fully assembled, can launch a paper plane at over 30 mph!

(Thanks GeekGod)

Hang your baby on the wall

Now mothers can hang their babies on the wall when they are in the toilet! The Babykeeper Basic is an infant carrier style seat that has 2 large metal hooks which will allow you to hang it to the stall wall in most public restrooms and fitting rooms.

(Thanks Stella)

Stephen King's "N"

Watch all 25 mini episodes of Stephen King's "N", a tale about a psychiatrist who becomes the victim of the same mysterious and deadly obsession as his patient. It is based on a chilling, never-before published story by Stephen King.

Wine Case turns into Lamp

Spanish design firm Circlus made this wine case that turns into a lamp that turns into recyclable waste. The case consists of two layers in which the interior layer is the actual wine carrier, while the outer layer becomes the lamp.

Japan: Robot Nation

Adam Yamaguchi of Vanguard Journalism goes to Japan to investigate the county's demographic crisis. The Japanese aren't having babies and they aren't accepting immigrants to help bolster the population so they are turning to robots for a unique solution. Watch the video here.

Singapore, Taiwan and HK get their own PlayStation Home

Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore are having their own PlayStation Home, a ground-breaking 3D social gaming community available on PS3 that allows users to interact, communicate and share gaming experiences. Users in these three countries will be sharing one single space together.

PlayStation Home users can create and customize their own unique avatars and explore virtual community in real time where they can communicate freely through text or voice chat. There is a variety of entertainment content such as mini-games, videos and special events to enjoy together with friends. You can also create your own community with other PlayStation Home users who share the same interests.

PlayStation Home is now available as a free download and will launch directly from the PlayStation Home icon on the PlayStation Network column of XMB(XrossMediaBar) on the PS3. Basic features and services of PlayStation Home are free of charge. It is currently on open beta and Sony will be adding more contents in the future to bring about an even more dynamic life in PlayStation Home.

Just in: Philips Micro Hi-Fi System and GoGear audio video player

Earlier today, I received the Philips BTM630 Micro Hi-Fi System and the Philips GoGear digital audio video player SA5245BT. I've mentioned these two briefly in my previous post about the Philips Indulge Your Senses blogger event - possibly the best local PR event held for bloggers ever! Reviews and pics of these two products coming soon so watch out for them.

The sweet allure of Taiwanese betel nut beauties

PingMag interviews photographer Masato Seto about his project to photograph Taiwan's betel nut stands and the sexy girls working in them. Seto says, "When a car pulls up, the girls come out and ask, 'What’ll you have?' Drivers will answer 'give me some water' or 'give me some betel nuts' and hand over some money."

Read magazines on Google Book Search

I think this is the best thing to come out from Google in years! Google is starting to add entire magazines to the Google Book Search index by partnering with the likes of New York Magazine, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics and more. That's it! All my free time now will be set aside for reading all the issues of Popular Science, one of my favourite mags. They have issues from way back in 1870!

Dude builds robot girl because he wants a perfect companion

Le Trung spends US$21,000 to build Aiko, a female robot with a 32-23-33 figure, speaks 13,000 different sentences in English and Japanese and most importantly, never complains! When you tell her that she has big breasts, she responds, "Stop teasing me and stop picturing me in your (dirty) thoughts". Le says that Aiko isn't for sex. Right.

Hello Kitty-themed maternity hospital opens in Taiwan

I told you so. Hello Kitty is out to take over the world! A Hello Kitty-themed maternity hospital has opened its doors in Taiwan with the hopes of easing the stress of childbirth with images of the popular cartoon character. God, no! Why would anyone want to give birth in a hospital surrounded by nurses wearing Hello Kitty uniforms? Watch the video above.

Pride and Prejudice told through Facebook

Pride and Prejudice, the famous novel by Jane Austen, told through Facebook's news feed! DeeDee who created this says, "Yes, the news feed should go in reverse, but this makes for easier reading. "

Today's Singapore News

The following are stories that are making the headlines over at Topix Singapore News today, edited by yours truly.

-Singapore ranks 38th in global warming fight: The annual Climate Change Performance Index placed Singapore at 38th, faring worse than Indonesia (27th) and Thailand (35th), but better than Japan (43rd) and China (49th).
-Singapore to get first movie studios: Singapore's first movie studio for use by independent and visiting foreign productions are to be constructed as part of a new S$1 billion ($714) million facilities cluster, Mediapolis @ one-north.
-Singapore consumers are saving money: A survey by MasterCard found almost 8 in 10 Singapore consumers saying they are saving money as a precaution, setting the funds aside as emergency stash.
-Getting loans not so easy: Faced with gloomy economic conditions, banks and financial institutions seem unwilling to lend and are tightening the credit lines they do hand out, according to car dealers.
-Singapore seen emerging Asia's weakest economy: Singapore is poised to be emerging Asia's worst-performing economy next year, when it is likely to remain entrenched in recession as the global downturn erodes demand for its exports, a Reuters poll shows.
-Countdown party to be held on floating platform at Marina Bay: The fireworks at the Marina Bay New Year countdown will go on as planned, despite the economic downturn. It will be one of the biggest countdown parties in town.
-No karting investment, no Singapore F1 driver: Karting is the world's most recognisable route to creating a possible future Formula One driver. But until Singapore is willing to invest in proper facilities for karting, or parents here are lured to get involved, the red lights are still on for creating a homegrown F1 driver.
-Long wait for refunds: Flights to Bangkok may have resumed but it is going to be a long haul for some holidaymakers who are seeking refunds for cancelled flights.
-Legislation to stop retrenchments is not the solution: There have been calls to give Singapore's labour movement more teeth and power to stop retrenchments, but labour chief Lim Swee Say believes that legislation is not the solution.
-Hired on contract: Singapore firms keen to keep costs down in these grim economic times are increasingly willing to sign up key finance professionals on temporary contracts instead of hiring pricey full-time staff.

Evolution of portable game consoles and controllers

Damien Lopez's pictorial comparison of the various game controllers and consoles from the past 25 years, spanning from the Atari 2600 to the Nintendo Wii, shows the progression of design in the gaming industry throughout the last quarter-century.

Singaporeans love Edison Chen!

Nothing like some leaked sex photos involving Honk Kong celebs to entice the curiosity of us sex craved Singaporeans. According to the Google Zeitgest 2008 for Singapore, Edison Chen is the fastest rising search item on Google Search Singapore followed by Olympics and Facebook. From Google Zeitgeist 2008:

2008 has been a year of change in Singapore and people have certainly been using Google to access information about these changes. The fastest rising searched items on these lists ranged from the scandalous (Edison Chen – Hong Kong celebrity whose sex photos were leaked) to the scrumptious (chicken rice – local culinary delight). Sports was also of great interest in Singapore, with searches aimed at local milestones like hosting the world's first F1 night race, winning the bid to host the Youth Olympics in 2010 and winning its 2nd Olympics medal in 48 years (for women's table tennis).

(via The EOK.Network)

The Ultimate Social Media Etiquette Handbook

Everyone is on Facebook, Twitter and every social media website on the planet! Tamar Weinberg, a social media enthusiast tells us how we can manage and maintain online relationships on a variety of these popular websites and the egregious sins that you should avoid. From Techipedia:

# Consistently using your Twitter stream for nothing but self-promotion and ego. Profy highlights this phenomenon quite well.
# Requesting that your friends Retweet your Tweets on a consistent basis. This is much more bothersome when the request comes via IM or email and not on Twitter itself. The bottom line: If your content is good enough to stand on its own, it will be Retweeted. There is no reason to make a personal request. (And if it doesn’t stand on its own, it usually doesn’t need to be retweeted.)
# Not humanizing your profile. Twitter is also about real relationships. Add an avatar and a bio at the minimum. Let people know who you are. To take it a step further, make it easy for people to contact you outside Twitter if necessary. This is especially important if someone on Twitter needs to reach you but can’t direct message you since you’re not following them! If they’re making the effort, it’s probably because they really want to talk to you. (Was it something you said? Usually.)

Burger King Whopper vs McDonald's Big Mac: Who wins?

Whopper Virgins is Burger King's taste challenge participated by impoverished villagers living in remote parts of the world who have never tasted a burger before. Their job is to eat a Whopper and a McDonald's Big Mac and choose which one tastes better. Watch the documentary on the Whopper Virgins site or on YouTube (clip above). Already, Burger King is coming under fire for its new campaign, with some critics calling the test insensitive. Me? After watching this, I just want to sink my teeth on a Whopper (yes, I'll choose Whopper over Big Mac anytime). Those damn burgers making me hungry. Argh!

Voice Activated R2-D2

Now your dreams of having your very own personal R2-D2 droid can come true with this 15 inch tall voice activated R2-D2 toy. It obeys more than 40 voice commands, plays games like tag, dances Cantina music and it also does room sentry duty! Go watch the video of it in action.

Wall-E and other fantastic bento sets!

Anna makes cute bento sets such as this awesome Wall-E lunch for her boyfriend. Lucky dude! View a more detailed photoset of the bento here. Also check out her amazing blog where teaches you how to make Yoshi, Super Mario mushrooms and more.

View high-resolution images of Mars in 3D

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) team has released 362 three-dimensional images of Mars taken by the HiRISE camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. All you need is a pair of 3D glasses to see the Martian rocks and features in all their 3D glory!

Today's Singapore News

The following are stories that are making the headlines over at Topix Singapore News today, edited by yours truly.

-Singapore to host its own Earth hour: The 28th of March next year promises to be a day where individuals and businesses in Singapore can join in the fight against climate change.
-Sports events bring gains: The sports industry in Singapore has crossed the billion-dollar mark for the first time, with positive spin-offs for the economy set to increase even further in the coming years.
-Timeshare firms still Case's No 1 problem: Timeshare companies have continued to get the most number of complaints filed with Singapore's consumer rights body, year after year.
-Cruise ships still making way to S'pore, despite tough economic times: Despite gloomy economic times, one of the world's largest cruise companies, Royal Caribbean Cruises, is setting its sights on Asia.
-Dutch supercar roars into recession-hit Singapore: For the truly wealthy, there's no such thing as a bad time to buy a supercar, even when the rest of the world is panicking about a global recession -- or so a Singaporean luxury car importer hopes.
-ERP for roads is 'pragmatic': An American professor who visited Singapore recently believes that if Asia stays on course for the next three decades, China will be a massive version of Singapore, and India a massive version of Malaysia.
-More mid-career professionals consider joining teaching force: The Education Ministry (MOE) is bringing forward manpower hiring plans amidst the economic downturn, in hope of employing more than 2,200 teachers next year.
-Singapore workers wait to hear of fate: Singapore employees of both Sony and Nomura now face a period of nerve-racking uncertainty as the companies' headquarters works out how many jobs exactly will be cut from their Singapore operations.
-Parents unhappy over school-bus fare hike: Another school-bus fare hike has parents up in arms. This time, some parents from Red Swastika School in Bedok North Avenue 3 are unhappy with their school-bus operator, Nier Transport Services, for raising its fares again.
-Singapore does well in latest large-scale maths and science survey: Singapore has once again performed well in the latest International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007. Students from the republic emerged 1st in Science at both the Primary 4 and Secondary 2 levels. It ranked 2nd, behind Hong Kong in Mathematics at Primary 4 and came in 3rd for Mathematics at Secondary 2.

Children's TV show teaches you to play with your balls

Rainbow is an award winning British children's television series that was shown from 1972 to 1992. In 1979, the cast and crew of Rainbow made a special exclusive Christmas sketch for the Thames TV staff. Known as the "Twangers" episode, it featured plenty of deliberate sexual innuendo. Go watch it and don't forget to get your twangers out and play with your balls or if you haven't got any balls, ask your friend if you can play with his. Have fun! And no, you can't play with mine.

Budget hotel wants you to stay in their room coz it's real dirty!

The Hans Brinker Budget Hotel Amsterdam takes honesty to the extreme with its infamous communication campaign, revered and reviled in equal measure. Check out this advertising poster: "Hans Brinker Budget Hotel is proud to be dirty and carry a wide variety of bacteria." Now, who in their right mind would really want to stay in such a dirty hotel? I was really curious so I checked out several hotel review sites and guess what, people do stay there! Trip Advisor has 69 reviews! One reviewer sums it up best:

This hostel was the worst I've ever seen! 4 of us booked a 6 bed room. When we arrived, two guys staying in our room informed us that they had found bed bugs in their beds and were covered in bites. They checked out the next morning. They had obviously complained to the staff because their beds were stripped and no new linens were put on them. When we found bugs in our suitcases, we'd had enough. We complained to the staff, who denied knowing anything about the bugs, and eventually we had to speak to the manager. He told us they were full and there was nothing they could do. He also denied responsibility for the bed bugs, saying that other people bring them in and what is he supposed to do. After some major complaining, he managed to come up with two double rooms. He said he would move their occupants (probably to our bug infested room). Our second set of rooms were dirty. The linens obviously hadn't been changed since he kicked out the first guests. The staff was incredibly rude at check out. Do not stay here! There are better hostels in Amsterdam. Trying the Flying Pig. In addition to all of this, the breakfast was meager (white bread, a piece of cheese, butter), and the facilities were dismal. Terrible experience with this hostel. Unless you want bed bugs, don't stay here!

Dude gets paid by gold trading company for his crap gold

Byrson says, "I got this kit to recycle gold. I had no (real) gold, but I had some pocket fluff and a can of gold paint. Not only did they accept the crap I sent, they mailed me a check for the effort." The company, Lippincott specialises in buying and recycling gold, platinum and fine jewelry items. They actually sent him a cheque of $1.10 for his "gold" penny, razor blade, guitar pick, spoon and screw. View his Flickr photoset here.

Acer tops netbook ranking in Japan

Acer is the favourite (29.9%) among Japanese in a survey on low-priced, compact, mini notebook PCs. ASUSTeK (19.8%), HP (13.6%) and Dell (11.9%) came in second, third and fourth respectively. The survey also asked respondents what they seek in mini notebook PCs. 80.8% of them are looking for "less weight" and 73.9% want "longer operation time", followed by "durability" (48.1%) and "coming with Microsoft Office" (34.6%).

Science reveals why we flirt

Scientists say that everyone flirts - whether you are single or married - because it's in our genes. Hmmm. Now that's an excuse you can give when you are caught flirting. So go ahead and flirt responsibly and remember this, when in doubt, flirt! From Time:

One of the reasons we flirt in this way is that we can't help it. We're programmed to do it, whether by biology or culture. The biology part has been investigated by any number of researchers. Ethologist Irenaus Eibl Eibesfeldt, then of the Max Planck Institute in Germany, filmed African tribes in the 1960s and found that the women there did the exact same prolonged stare followed by a head tilt away with a little smile that he saw in America...

Flirtation is a game we play, a dance for which everyone knows the moves. "People can flirt outrageously without intending anything," says independent sex researcher Timothy Perper, who has been researching flirting for 30 years. "Flirting captures the interest of the other person and says 'Would you like to play?'" And one of the most exhilarating things about the game is that the normal rules of social interaction are rubberized. Clarity is not the point. "Flirting opens a window of potential. Not yes, not no," says Perper. "So we engage ourselves in this complex game of maybe."

Zihotch Retro Phone Watch

To tell the time with the Zihotch Retro Phone Watch, you have to dial 117 using its old school telephone dial and a voice will speak to you in Japanese. Dial the wrong number and you'll get: "We are sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service. Please check and call again."

Mona Lisa drawn using Genetic Programming

I really have no idea how this was done but Roger Alsing has used genetic programming to paint a replica of the Mona Lisa using only 50 semi transparent polygons that took more than 900,000 generations. He did not say how long the evolution takes.

The making of Barbie of the Undead

Are Sundnes shows us how to convert any Barbie doll into this wonderful but spooky zombie playmate aka Barbie of the Undead. The scull and the base are made of Super Sculpey, a sculpting clay and painted with acrylics. You can do this to Ken too.

(via BoingBoing)

Zombie Fashion Models

Fumie Sasabuchi takes pages from fashion magazines and then uses ballpoint pens and colored pencils to draw exposed bones and organs over the images of the models transforming them into zombies.

(Thanks arfa74)

8-Bit Christmas Tunes

I'm downloading Doctor Octoroc's free MP3 album called 8-Bit Jesus which contains chiptune versions of classic Christmas songs done in the style of Nintendo games. He's releasing the first half of the album as a preview. There are 9 tracks to download.

Nikon D700 Birthday Cake

Maria not only got a Nikon D700 camera from her husband for her birthday but she also received this amazing Nikon D700 cake made of fondant on the outside and red velvet cake in the inside. Yummy! Another pic here.

(Thanks GeekGod)

The first Bollywood film distributed by Warner Brothers

Chandni Chowk To China is one of those "looks so bad it might be good" movie. Watch the trailer above. George from Latino Review calls it "part Crouching Tiger, part Kung Fu Hustle, and all madness". It is the first (or maybe second) Bollywood film distributed by Warner Brothers and the first Indian production to be shot in China. It's slated for a January 2009 screening. God help us.

Newspaper steals photo from Flickr

Flickr user Diamond Geezer says that the UK paper, the Daily Mail used a photo he uploaded to Flickr without his permission and he's pissed! From Flickr:

Here's my Wembley IKEA photo, stolen by some wretch at Mail Online to illustrate a grim news story about a road accident, and republished with "© Flickr" slapped in the bottom left hand corner. They didn't ask, they didn't attribute, they didn't pay.

Various Twitter contacts advised suing them, or at least contacting the Mail and invoicing them (as Giles successfully did when they shafted him).

So I rang the Online Pictures Editor, as suggested, and he duly apologised. They're not supposed to nab Flickr photos, he confirmed, and apparently worktime access to Flickr is barred for all Mail Online employees.

Karaoke Rage: Don't hog the microphone!

Malaysian dude hogs the microphone in a karaoke and pays the ultimate price - his life! Note to self: Try to sing lesser next time when I'm in a karaoke. From Guardian:

Abdul Sani Doli refused to hand over the microphone at a coffee shop that doubles as a karaoke bar in the town of Sandakan, Borneo. Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after the altercation erupted a few minutes before midnight.

The town's police chief, Rosli Mohammad Isa, said initial investigations showed the victim had sung several numbers on Wednesday night. Other patrons fumed as Abdul Sani hogged the microphone, a scenario perhaps familiar to karaoke devotees the world over.

Three men on a neighbouring table confronted him on the pavement outside the coffee shop and witnesses saw a heated argument break out. It turned into a punch-up and Abdul Sani was killed.

Don't forget I'm giving away 5 kick-ass Guns N Roses Hampers!

Guns N' Roses fans in Singapore, you guys and gals rock! I have received a total of 103 entries for the Guns N' Roses Hamper contest. Those of you who have not participated yet, you still have until tomorrow midnight to win one of the 5 GNR Hampers containing the new Chinese Democracy album. Take part here or you can also read it over at Reuters. And talking about Chinese Democracy, we are number 1 in the world baby! Number 1!!!

Previously:
Win Guns N' Roses Hampers including their latest album Chinese Democracy!
Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy Pre-Launch Listening Party in Singapore
My letter to Axl is on Reuters

Learn your ABC with Halo corpses

Thanks to the great work by the folks from the Halo community, we can now practice our ABCs with the Halo Corpse Alphabet set which represents every letter of the alphabet using the twisted, curved, stretched, and otherwise dead Spartan and Elite bodies from Halo 3.

(Thanks Johnny Q)

Skeleton Hands Hair Clips

Creepy skeleton hands with red painted nails made on alligator clips make good hair clips for next year's Halloween or you can put them on a tie, clothing, hats, or your rear view mirror.

(Thanks pinkdior)

25 beautiful photos of the 2008 Asian Beach Games

One of my favourite photoblogs, The Big Picture posts 25 beautiful photos taken at the inaugural 2008 Asian Beach Games where 6,000 athletes competed in 71 events in 19 sports in Bali, Indonesia. Is it me or are the faces of those bodybuilders in photo 14 look like they are the result of a very bad cut and paste photoshop work? Strange aye.

Girl has the ultimate Pokemon collection

I'm left speechless by this crazy collection of Pokemon goodies. The owner, a girl who is definitely a big fan judging from those pictures, has almost everything in the Pokemon universe including a Pokemon Volkswagen Beetle!

Creative Bench Advertisements

Toxel has several pictures of benches used in advertising campaigns. Very creative. I like the KitKat one. I just want to bite into it. Here's another one that I really like.

The Bollywood Mustard Song aka May He Poop?

Hot on the heels of the Bollywood Nipple Song comes the Mustard aka May He Poop? Song courtesy of the brilliant translationary powers of Ben174 on YouTube. With lyrics such as "May he poop on my knee?" and "Would you mustard my hole with a genie babe?", this Bollywood song is guaranteed to be a classic in no time.

CG Steampunk Star Wars

For their Hardcore Modelling Challenge, the talented digital artists from CGSociety created computer graphics of Steampunk versions of popular characters, creatures and vehicles from the Star Wars universe. Really amazing stuff so prepare to be blown away.

The comic behind "The Day the Earth Stood Still" movie

Farewell to the Master is a science fiction short story written by Harry Bates which was first published in 1940. It provided the basis of the classic 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still and its 2008 remake starring Keanu Reeves. You can read the 1973 comic version of Farewell to the Master here.

Free Gmail stickers from Google

Google is giving away some cool Gmail stickers. Just send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the address given in the link to get the glittering Gmail m-velope sticker, the Gmail keyboard shortcut stickers and one of three bookplate style stickers. While stocks last.

Proof that recession is hitting McDonald's really hard

I have no idea where exactly this photo was taken - I reckon it has to be somewhere in the Middle East - but it shows that McDonald's is now resorting to selling its burgers and fries in road side stalls as part of its downsizing plan, no thanks to the poor global economy. Damn recession!

Marshall Alexander's Paper Toys

Marshall spends his spare time illustrating his childhood memories and designing one-piece paper toys that consist of a single flat piece of paper, which by intricate folding is transformed into a 3-dimensional model. You can download his paper toys over at his site. Have fun making them over the weekend.

Dust Mop Slippers

It's weird inventions like this that make our life easier. The Dust Mop Slippers is part slippers and part dust mop. They may look insane to you but I promise that you'll be thanking them when you slip them on to walk around the house. They clean while you walk. I need a pair!

(Thanks markybot11)

The Simpsons Clay Busts

Karen Caldicott is an English artist that makes awesome clay models and busts. She has made clay busts for a wide variety of clients including the New York Yankees and the New York Magazine but my favourite has to be her sculptures of Bart, Lisa, Marge and Homer Simpsons.

(Thanks Harold)

TOMY's xiao camera takes pictures and prints them like a Polaroid!

xiao TIP-521 (Japanese site) is TOMY's new camera that lets you print photos immediately. xiao pronounced as "sha-oh" not "siao" as I've been told by the TOMY folks, is a full featured 5 megapixel digital camera with a high resolution display.

The real beauty of the xiao is its built-in printer using ZINK Zero Ink technology. The printer uses no ink and therefore there are never any messy cartridges to change or get clogged. The camera accepts only 5cm x 7.5cm ZINK Photo Paper sheets. The backing of the ZINK Photo Paper can also be peeled away to turn the photos into fun photo stickers.

xiao also has an infrared input port enabling it to receive and print photos taken by other infrared enabled cameras or mobile phones. SD Memory Card compatibility (up to 4GB) can be used to store thousands of photos or is another way to transfer photos taken on another device to xiao for printing or to export photos taken with xiao.

Video here:



And for some test shots taken using the xiao, check out this photoset here. The xiao costs US$499 at AudioCubes.

Toothpaste Tissue cum Toilet Paper Dispenser

A toothpaste that dispenses toilet paper? Boy, the Japanese sure have all the wackiest ideas alright. This Toothpaste Tissue Dispenser looks like a giant Japanese local flavor toothpaste tube but it holds toilet paper or tissue instead of your regular toothpaste. I can see the staff at Colgate for example, using this in their toilets.

Star Wars Battleship Game

I have to get Santa to add this to my Christmas presents list! The Star Wars Battleship Game uses Star Destroyers, X-Wing Fighters, Millenium Falcon, and other iconic ships from the Star Wars movies. The objective is the same as the classic Battleship game - guess where your opponent puts his ships and hit as many as you can.

Thanko FMP3 Watch

Thanko's new FMP3 watch (Japanese site) packs a punch! It plays mp3 and wma music files, records voice and line level audio feeds, and also lets you listen to the radio. The USB watch comes in 512MB and 1GB models and is water resistant too! The only thing it lacks, is the ability to make phone calls. Darn!

Coffee-on-napkin drawings

Award winning illustrator Christoph Niemann has a delightful art blog over at The New York Times. In his latest post, he talks about his "love" for coffee and shows us his cute coffee-on-napkin drawings.

(via BoingBoing)

Airbus A380 too quiet, pilots can't sleep

It's hard work being a pilot these days, especially when you're flying the A380. Apparently, the giant plane is too quiet that pilots can't even fall asleep! Poor thing. From James Wallace on Aerospace:

The pilots say that the lack of engine noise in the A380's cabin compared with other long-haul airliners means they are constantly disturbed by sounds created by passengers, such as crying babies, flushing vacuum toilets and call bells. Passengers also mistake the rest area for a lavatory, and pull the door handle.

The Dubai-based carrier has asked Airbus for a solution that does not involve substantially adding weight, which rules out insulating the walls of the rest area, situated at the rear of the all-economy main deck, says Emirates senior vice-president, fleet, Capt Ed Davidson.

"We are expecting to hear back from them by the middle of the month," says Davidson, who admits that the airframer has "over delivered" on its noise promises on the airline's Engine Alliance GP7200-powered A380s. One option could be installing lightweight generators to create ambient noise.

WSJ's accusations against Singapore are scandalous!

Looks like there's no love lost between Singapore and the Wall Street Journal. The Ambassador of Singapore to the United States has written to the Wall Street Journal calling its recent accusations against the Singapore courts scandalous. From WSJ:

The fundamental disagreement between Singapore and the Journal (and its sister publications) has been that you want to force Singapore to change its rules to comply with U.S. norms, so that journalists will not be sued even if they denigrate our judiciary or publish false, defamatory articles. This was the basic issue over which The Asian Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review clashed with the Singapore government two decades ago. We allowed these journals to resume circulation after they signaled clearly that they would henceforth abide by Singapore laws. But as shown by your articles, affidavits filed on your behalf in court, and statements made by your counsel, you are now again campaigning for a change in the laws.

Santa Claus: I do not use Gmail!

The first thing I did after I posted the story about Santa Claus' email account being exposed, was to send a message to Santa himself, on Twitter: "Hi Santa. I was wondering if you knew that your Gmail account has been exposed."

It took him awhile to reply - must have been very busy this time of the year - but at around 30 minutes ago, Santa has spoken: "I am happy to report that the GMAIL capture of what is supposed to be MY email is false. I do not even use GMail."

Phew. What a relief! That's right, kids. You don't have to worry. Santa's email account is safe and sound. That's not his. He doesn't use Gmail! And oh, Santa is now following me on Twitter (so should you!). Cool. Don't forget my presents, Santa.

Previously: Exposed: Santa Claus' Gmail account!!!!

Today's Singapore News

The following are stories that are making the headlines over at Topix Singapore News today, edited by yours truly.

-Lo Hwei Yen's husband talks about her last moments: Even as she was being held by terrorists in her Mumbai hotel a week ago, Ms Lo Hwei Yen's voice remained steady as she spoke with her husband on her mobile phone.
-Singapore mourns 'angel' killed in Mumbai attacks: A vicious tropical rainstorm beat down from darkened skies Thursday as mourners began a funeral mass for Singapore's "angel" murdered by armed militants in India.
-A recession survival guide: The Central Singapore Community Development Council (CDC) is showing residents how to cope with the recession through a special Survival Guide it has developed.
-To what degree greater transparency on Town Council Sinking Funds?: The debate on the town council sinking funds investments is far from over. Instead of feeling reassured by MPs who've recently said recent investment losses won't affect estate management and improvement plans, some members of the public are still unsure and want more information.
-Electricity bills to fall 25%: Electricity tariffs for households will be cut by about 25 per cent for January to March, in line with lower fuel oil prices.
-Singapore may weaken currency in January: Singapore’s central bank may let its currency fall by 2.3 percent as early as January after Chinese policy makers moved to weaken the yuan this week.
-Slight increase in number of medical tourists seeking treatment in Singapore: Singapore has become the unwitting beneficiary of the political troubles in Bangkok. Experts say the Republic is expected to see a rise in the number of medical tourists in the short term.
-NTUC gives $6m in subsidies: Some 77,000 of NTUC Incomeshield policyholders, most of whom hold plans pegged to the B and C wards in restructured hospitals, will get help in coping with the increase in Medishield premium revisions, which kick in next month.
-Another 10 temporary dorm sites for foreign workers: The National Development Ministry (MND) has on Wednesday released the details of another 10 temporary dormitory sites for foreign workers.
-No new site for land sales: The Government is not adding any new sites to its land sales programme for the first half of next year, given the continuing weak global economic outlook.

Exposed: Santa Claus' Gmail account!!!!

Santa Claus' email account has been exposed! Oh god, no! As you can tell from the screenshot, he uses Google Gmail (good choice) and has Bono, Easter Bunny, Frosty the Snowman, Jesus, God, Rudolf amongst his contacts. I don't know about you but I'm going to send dear Santa an email right away with a list of what I want for Christmas this year which includes of course, world peace. I wonder if he's on Twitter too. Oh wait, he is!

Update: Santa says that's not his email account!

Shuriken Fridge Magnets

The much feared Japanese ninjas used shurikens (ninja stars) to kill their enemies but you can use these less deadly shuriken inspired magnets to stick notes to your fridge or any metallic surface. The magnets come in an authentic ninja-styled shuriken box - what else!

MAKE Magazine’s Geek Gathering in Tokyo

PingMag reports from the MAKE: Tokyo Meeting 02, a gathering of geeks organised by the Japanese edition of MAKE magazine. The wacky inventions showcased at the event include a homemade tank with a built-in cotton candy machine, a homemade planetarium and a robotic head that is controlled by a mobile phone.

Free Starbucks today!

Get your favourite beverage on the house at any Starbucks Singapore outlet from 5 to 7pm today and don't forget to make a generous donation to The Salvation Army while you are at it. One redemption per customer and tall-sized beverages only but you can donate as many times as you want.

(Thanks Linghan)

Classic Battlestar Galactica Concept Art

Ralph McQuarrie is a conceptual designer who was responsible for the look of some of the most famous sci-fi movies ever made such as the original Star Wars trilogy, Battlestar Galactica and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Here's a collection of his concept art made for the original Battlestar Galactica TV series.

(Thanks GeekGod)

Mario Galaxy Cake

For her fourth birthday, Hannah received this giant Mario Galaxy Cake from her parents who had to play the Super Mario Galaxy game with her to make the cake all more convincing. Cake is loaded with Rice Krispes Treats, electrical wiring, motors, mp3 players, a heavy wooden frame, fiber optic lights, etc. Wow! What a lucky girl.

Pixel Art by Yassine

Here are some good examples of pixel art by Yassine. His work is pretty impressive. Pixel art is a form of digital art, created through the use of raster graphics software, where images are edited on the pixel level.

(Thanks Elli)

Singapore CC licenses are now online

You can now grab your Creative Commons licenses specially made for Singapore based authors. From Creative Commons Singapore:

If you are a Singapore-based author/creator there is nothing stopping you from using another country’s license from the Creative Commons website, but it makes all the sense in the world to use the Singapore-specific licenses - these are crafted with a language that is tailored to Singapore law and this will be helpful for local legal experts and courts in case you ever need to take legal action against unlawful uses of your content. So, you’re doing yourself a favor if you use the Singapore-specific Creative Commons licenses (and of course you’re also making those of us who worked on them happy to see the licenses used in practice)!

Step-by-step guide to Skype

Slate has a step-by-step guide to using Skype, the cheapest and easiest way to make a phone call. I don't use Skype but after reading this, maybe it's about time I start skyping. Hmmm, now who should I call? From Slate:

Skype is an Internet app—it works by streaming your calls over the network on a peer-to-peer protocol. (The software's inventors are peer-to-peer devotees, having developed the file-sharing program Kazaa and the TV-streaming app Joost using the same principles.) But Skype's magic is that it connects to the phone system, too, letting you talk to people who have no interest in any of this computer mumbo jumbo.

Calling people's phones isn't free: To get started, you've got to give Skype your credit card number (or your PayPal account). Then type in the phone number and press Call. You can pay for your Skype calls on a per-call basis or through a subscription. Skype's pay-as-you-go rates are very good. You can talk to most people in Asia, Europe, and North and South America for about 2 cents a minute.

Teenagers from Outer Space

Teenagers from Outer Space is a 1959 B grade sci-fi movie about a group of teenagers who came to Earth in an extraterrestrial ship. The teenagers want to use Earth as a farm to raise their herd of "gargons", a lobster-like, air-breathing creature which is a food staple in their homeworld. The movie is so bad, it's good! Take a closer look at the actors who play the teenagers. Don't you think they look a little too old to be teenagers? I guess teens from outer space aged faster than those on Earth. You can watch the first 10 mins of the public domain movie above and the entire movie here.

Push Pin Mario Mosaic

Students from University of the Fraser Valley took about two and a half semesters and more than 17,000 push pins to create this fantastic Mario mosaic on a board in the university's Student Computing Center. I just hope they didn't skip their classes to do this.

(via Gaming Today)

A new video game idea for Activision: Vagina Hero?

The folks from Ripten spoofs Activision's wildly popular Guitar Hero video game with their own version of the next big thing to hit the Xbox and Playstation: Vagina Hero! The goal of the game is to fill the climax meter. Successful combos and streaks fill it up faster. The sooner you’re done, the sooner you can move on to the next girl.

Knit Night Cupcakes

Lolo makes the cutest cupcakes. Her Knit Night Cupcakes are sure to be a favourite among knitting aficionados everywhere. She writes, "The party is also a Knit Night, so I thought I’d bring some appropriately decorated cupcakes. This was my first time working with marzipan, and what fun it is! Like, four hours of fun."

Visionaire Surprise Pop-Up Issue

Visionaire is an art and fashion publication that has come out in limited, numbered editions, each with different themes. Their latest issue Surprise is a collection of hard-cover pop up images by some of the best known photographers like Steven Meisel, Mario Testino and Steven Klein.

(via Amused)

Nokia World 2008: Introducing the N97 Mobile Computer

I just finished watching the live webcast of Nokia World 2008 held at Barcelona, Spain. Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia's Executive Vice President (Markets) introduced the audience to "the world's most advanced mobile computer", the Nokia N97.

Available in the first half of 2009, the N97 combines a large 3.5" touch display with a full QWERTY keyboard. It has A-GPS sensors, an electronic compass, 16:9 widescreen display, 32 GB of on-board memory (expandable with a 16 GB microSD card), 5-Megapixel camera with high-quality Carl Zeiss optics, 16:9 and DVD quality video capture.

The home screen of the N97 features the people, content and media that matter the most. Friends, social networks and news are available by simply touching the home screen. The widescreen display can be fully personalized with frequently updated widgets of favorite web services and social networking sites.

The N97 also makes it easy to update social networks automatically with real-time information, giving people the ability to update their 'status' and share their location as well as related pictures or videos with approved friends.

Demo video of the N97 here:



And don't forget to click here to view the pics from the Nokia World 2008 keynote, "Transforming The Way We Connect".

Today's Singapore News

The following are stories that are making the headlines over at Topix Singapore News today, edited by yours truly.

-Buyers paying less cash for HDB resale flats: There are increasing signs that the HDB resale flat market is no longer immune to the economic slowdown.
-Gold not as pure as it seems: The Consumer's Association of of Singapore (CASE) has found that gold sold in local goldsmiths' shops are not as pure as they claim.
-Drivers must give way, or else: Stop for public buses turning out of bus bays, or you may soon be fined $130 under the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) latest scheme to give priority to buses on the roads.
-Hundreds bid farewell: Most did not know her. But hundreds of people turned up to say goodbye to lawyer Lo Hwei Yen yesterday. The 28-year-old lawyer was taken hostage and killed by terrorists during a working trip in Mumbai last week.
-CDC confident all S'poreans can access anti-HIV drugs: Singapore's Communicable Disease Centre (CDC) said it is confident all HIV patients in Singapore will have access to anti-HIV drugs by 2010.
-Number of HIV cases in Singapore this year to increase: Singapore's Health Ministry (MOH) warned on Sunday that the total number of HIV cases this year will exceed that of last year.
-Singapore sentences TV reporter: A court in Singapore sentenced Australian TV reporter Peter Lloyd on Tuesday to 10 months in jail for consumption and possession of methamphetamine.
-Govt commends Aims report: The Government has commended an advisory council for its comprehensive report and insightful observations on the pertinent issues and concerns arising from the emergence of new media.
-New ez-link cards that run on new payment system: Commuters will now have to get new ez-link cards supported by a new e-payment system. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Tuesday those with current ez-link cards will be able to get the new cards in a free one-for-one replacement exercise in early January.
-Singapore turns public road Into military airstrip: Singapore's military planes, including fighter jets, can be said to be able to fly from any location in the tiny republic if an air exercise yesterday is any indication.

Sacha Feiner's Gremlins Fan Film

Sacha Feiner is a big Gremlins fan. He owns one of the largest Gremlins collections in the world with tons of merchandising products and several original screen-used props. Sacha is also a talented movie and animated movie director, special effects creator and sculptor, and dreams of making Gremlins 3 one day. But before his dream can come true, he spent a total of two months and about US$3000 for his Gremlins fan film project in which he creates Gremlins puppets and then cleverly inserting them into scenes in movies such as Batman, Indiana Jones and Exorcist. Watch the Making Of above and his other clips here.

Dude's Flickr photo used in the Iron Man movie

Jeremy Keith tells us how a photo he took at Kennedy Space Center in 2006 and later posted to his Flickr, was used in the movie Iron Man. Impressive story. Too bad he didn't get paid for it. Curse that Creative Commons license. From Adactico:

After a long trip across the Atlantic, I awoke in my hotel on the first morning of the conference, eager to hear the opening keynote. But before I could head downstairs, my mobile phone rang. I answered it and the woman on the other end said, “Hi. I sent you two emails about using a picture of yours…”

“Ah, right!”, I said. I then launched into my usual spiel about Creative Commons licencing. I explained that she was free to use my picture. All she had to do was include a credit somewhere in her little movie.

“Well”, she said, “the thing is, getting your name in the credits usually costs at least $1,500. That’s why we need you sign the license release form I sent.”

“Wait a minute”, I said. “What is this for?”

“It’s for a movie that’s currently in production called Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jnr.”

Win Guns N' Roses Hampers including their latest album Chinese Democracy!

I'm giving away 5 Guns N' Roses hampers courtesy of Universal Music Singapore. The hamper includes the latest album by Guns N' Roses, Chinese Democracy and their older albums, The Spaghetti Incident, Appetite for Destruction and Use Your Illusion II.

Just email 5 friends and cc me (izreloaded at gmail dot com) with the title: "Contest: Win Guns N' Roses Hamper including their latest album Chinese Democracy!". In the email include the permalink to this post and a link to the Guns N' Roses MySpace page where they could listen to some of the tracks from Chinese Democracy.

Contest is only for readers based in Singapore and it ends one week later. 5 lucky winners will be contacted by me via email. Good luck!

Previously: Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy Pre-Launch Listening Party in Singapore!

4 more hours to win this LG70 HDTV!

You have until midnight to win this beautiful LG70 HDTV (HD5 setup box, PS3, TV stand and the lamp pictured above not included)! Here are just 3 out of the more than 280 entries that I've received since the contest began last week.

Jenny wrote:

She has Full HD 1080p resolution
You can watch Nature and her creatures in its full glory, right down from the glossy snake scales, Kermit leaping into your face to the drips of perspiration on your fave soccer player in action.

Sleek moves with TruMotion 100Hz
Drool over Daniel Craig’s (or any other James Bond predecessors for that matter) swift moves and car chases. Catch Lewis Hamiliton’s now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t F1 race.

Born with it Intelligent Sensor
Myopics rejoice! Scarlet cares for your eyes with automatic brightness adjustments for a more comfy viewing pleasure.

Here's Juliet's entry:

If you love to see your favourite actors super up close and personal, big and clear.
If you love to watch TV everyday.
If you love to have a stylish TV set in your modern living room.
Then you should get the Scarlet LG70 HDTV.
A powerful TV of features packed into a sleek sophisticated design.
Scarlet LG70 HDTV Rocks !

And lastly, from Cheryl:

Why Scarlet is the purrfect woman for you
1) She's Intelligent. She can read your mind and mood with her Intelligent Sensor to ensure you the get the best viewing pleasure on and of her any time of the day.
2) She's Sharp. Built to full HD resolution. You can enjoy detailed images, right down to every subtle shadows casted.
3) She's Red hot! I know you guys lurrve the colour red.

Love and Rockets

View the covers of Love and Rockets, one of the first comic books in the alternative comics revolution of the 1980s. Love and Rockets contains several ongoing serial narratives, one of them being the story of a fictional village in Latin America and its inhabitants. It also contains one-offs, shorter stories, and surrealist jokes.

Kim Joon's Body Art

South Korean artist Kim Joon does really beautiful body art. One of his works this year is his "Bird Land-Batman", where he paints Batman logos and other stuff on naked bodies. Great! (NSFW)

(Thanks JoE)

Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank for sale!

It's amazing what you can find on Amazon these days! Someone is selling an extremely rare Badonkadonk land vehicle and battle tank that looks awefully similar to the Sail Barge used by Jabba the Hutt in Star Wars. Oh, don't forget to check out the customer reviews. They are more interesting than the product itself.