City Harvest Church uses $24m church money to fund Sun Ho's lack of musical ability

Founder of City Harvest Church and four other senior members were charged in court with misappropriating S$50 million in church funds. The first charge involves "sham transactions" allegedly devised to conceal the diversion of some S$24 million from the church's Building Fund to fund Sun Ho's music career. Sun is Kong Hee's wife. Sun also can't sing no matter how much money the church is spending on her.

Anyway, City Harvest Church wants us to believe that Sun Ho's music touches people's lives, connects with them and even reaches out to non-Christians. If you can't understand how her music touches your life after watching her two music videos China Wine and Mr Bill (two of the worst music videos ever produced), try watching them backwards. Now, can you hear the subliminal messages in these two songs? Listen carefully, again and again. Do you feel connected now?

The MRT Train Door Open Incident: Did Stomp knowingly post a fake story to get more hits?

Surprise, surprise! The Stomper who posted the story of the MRT train doors that remained open when the train was moving is actually a Stomp employee! Samantha Ann Francis is a Stomp Content Producer and here's another surprise. SMRT has revealed that Samantha wasn't even at Lakeside MRT station!

So who's lying? We can't tell for sure but we can take a look at Samantha's statements if she's telling truth. In her original Stomp post (under the name wasabi), she writes: "I was on my way home from Boon Lay MRT to City Hall MRT last night. At Lakeside station at 10.15pm, one of the doors started making noises during 'Doors Closing' and remained stuck open even while the train started moving. Thank goodness the train was relatively empty, if not it would have been dangerous for people standing near that door in a crowded train! The doors eventually closed at the next station."



Samantha's story (that's her in the above Straits Times photo) on Stomp is different from the statements she gave to SMRT: "She met with SMRT staff at Lakeside MRT to assist in their investigations. She showed them where she was standing when she took the photo and described what she was wearing that night to help SMRT identify her in CCTV footage."

As you can tell by comparing the two stories above, Samantha lied in the Stomp posting saying that she took the train from Boon Lay MRT. She later told SMRT she was standing on the platform of Lakeside MRT station when she took the photo. Even that is a lie because SMRT's CCTV images and a check on her ez-link card show that she was never at Lakeside MRT station in the first place.

Now why would a Stomp employee lie about the authenticity of her story and photo? Is it to get more hits? Does the Stomp editor know that the story was posted by their own content producer and not by a citizen journalist? Why didn't Stomp reveal in the original post that it was submitted by their own content producer? And what about the photo of the MRT doors that remain open? Was it photoshopped? If Samantha did lie about the story, how did she get the photo?

UPDATE: Stomp content producer Samantha Francis has been sacked by SPH! Stomp has sent an apology to SMRT for the fake story.

UPDATE: Stomp has removed Samantha's original post but you can still view it below.

   
UPDATE: Sacked Stomp Content Producer Samantha Ann Francis has removed/hid her LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media profiles but apparently, you can still read her articles which she wrote for Fever Avenue here. (Thanks Rickie, HoLim and Michhh06)

UPDATE: According to the cache image of Samantha's LinkedIn below, she was an intern journalist at SPH from May to Sept 2011. She then went on to contribute to Fever Avenue as an Entertainment writer and joined SPH full time as a Content Producer for Stomp (not updated on her LinkedIn). (Thanks Mr Big, Mas)

Amazing Stormtrooper helmet made of foam rubber

Julius Perdana made a Stormtrooper helmet using 2mm thick EVA foam, UHU and Cyanoacrylate adhesive because he's bored with making paper models. He writes: "I want to use EVA foam for the helmet and rest of the armor material because it's cheap, very easy to cut and bend and also very lightweight."

Metropolis II is a monster kinetic sculpture with Hot Wheels

Chris Burden’s massive kinetic sculpture Metropolis II is made up of lots of steel beams, 400,000 homemade Hot Wheels toy cars, 18 roadways, a six-lane freeway, the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal. It took him four years to build! I can spend hours just looking at this monster. Yes, it is a monster! Just check out the video.

Saipancakes are crazy but edible pancakes

Dude makes crazy pancakes of dinosaurs, fishes and even body organs and posts pictures of them on his blog! He writes: "I'm a math teacher on leave for awhile to focus on my children. My family moved to Saipan last summer, and the silly pancakes began earlier this year as a way to entertain the kids."

(Thanks Malcolm)

Meshu turns your places into beautiful objects you can wear

Meshu makes jewellery from locations on the map of the place you've visited. Enter in cities you've been to or any places you like. The site generates a Meshu to order as a necklace, earrings or cufflinks. Sha and Rachel, the two ladies behind Meshu use Shapeways for the 3D-printing and Ponoko for lasercutting.

How to crochet Pac-Man and Ghosts

Penolopy Bulnick teaches us how to crochet these adorable set of Pac-Man and Ghosts. She writes: "This started as a project to just crochet Pac-Man. Then this expanded to making the ghosts, then to making the ghosts with movable eyes, and lastly to adding in covers to make the ghosts switch to dark blue."

Reebok teams up with Marvel to launch superhero shoes

Reebok is teaming up with Marvel to launch the Reebok X Marvel - 2012 Reebok Classic Collaboration. The shoes are inspired by Marvel popular comic superheroes such as Captain America, Spiderman, Wolverine, in Reebok's classic designs. I love them all!

(Thanks Hew63)

Inside the office of Nike CEO Mark Parker

Nike CEO Mark Parker is not only the world's most creative CEO but he also has the most creative office of all CEOs! Go check out the photos of his office. He has so many cool stuff in there! Lots of toys, sculptures, paintings and of course, Nike stuff too.

(Thanks GeekGod)

M.C. Escher's Relativity reenacted in Lego Star Wars

Paul Vermeesch has made an incredible 1x1x1 foot model of M.C. Escher's print "Relativity" using Star Wars Lego toys! He writes: "This diorama presents the original Star Wars trilogy in a roughly counterclockwise format, and even features a minifig-scale theatre in the back which plays Lego's CG version of the Star Wars saga."

Stamp a seal of approval with Star Wars Rubber Stamps

Stamp maker Tyr is selling her Star Wars inspired rubber stamps all carved in good-quality hard rubber and glued to wood stocks. She says, "I'm a huge fan of Star Wars and am planning to make a whole set of other characters like R2D2, C3PO, clone trooper, Princess Leia, Han Solo and, well, you name it!"

Clay fridge does not require electricity to keep food fresh

Mitticool is a natural refrigerator made entirely from clay to store vegetables and fruits and also for cooling water. It provides naturally coolness to the stored material without requiring any electricity or any other artificial form of energy. It works on the principle of evaporation.

350 pixel perfect icons free for you to use anywhere

I just downloaded this free set of 350 pixel perfect glyphs icons by the webdesign folks at Brankic1979. The icons are perfect for apps and websites and you can use them for personal and even commercial use! Sweet! Go download the icon set now. The file opens in Photoshop and it is in PSD.

Singapore $100 Hell Money looks like the real thing

Tiny Dragon, a company in the US is selling Singapore $100 Hell Money on eBay. The notes are beautifully printed in wonderful detail and features an image of the Jade Emperor, the Taoist monarch of heaven instead of Yusof Ishak, Singapore's first President. Hell bank notes are a form of joss paper printed to resemble legal tender bank notes offered as burnt-offerings to the deceased as often practiced by the Chinese. (Thanks GinGin)

Claim your Durian Tree with My Father's Durian Tree sticker

 

Asia One reports that Moulmein residents are fighting over a durian tree: "A durian tree beside Block 69, Moulmein Road has become a fighting point between one resident and his neighbours in the vicinity.  Residents who have tried taking the fruit have found themselves confronted by Mr R. Lim, who is claiming that the tree is his as it was planted by his father 20 years ago."

So to make things easier for those of you who want to claim your own prized durian tree in your HDB estate, here's My Father's Durian Tree sticker. No need to fight among your fellow residents and call the police lah. Print and stick it on your durian tree and no one will ever steal your durians or even look at your tree ever again.

Straits Times appreciates its readers by charging them $67 to its ST Appreciates Readers party

 

Straits Times calls its 167th birthday celebration the Straits Times Appreciates Readers (STAR) party. Wah! A party to appreciate readers but still have to pay $67 to attend! Nice way to show appreciation to your readers ya, Straits Times? 

But then again this is the Straits Times we are talking about. These are the same folks who are auctioning a Volkswagen CC for charity with proceeds going towards sponsoring one-year subscriptions to ST for some 1,000 low-income families. You read that right! Instead of giving money or food to low-income families, ST is giving them free newspapers. Disgusting!

Transit of Venus: Where and How to watch the very rare event

The Transit of Venus will visible in Singapore tomorrow morning (6 June 2012) right after sunrise. A transit of Venus happens when the planet Venus (2nd from the Sun) passes directly between the Sun and the Earth. From the Earth, we see Venus as a small black dot moving across the sun's surface.

Transits of Venus are pretty rare. The last time one happened was back in June 2004. If you miss this one, you'll have to wait till December 2117 for the next transit.

Here are the timings for the Venus transit as visible from Singapore. The transit starts 6.13 am (all in Singapore time) but the sun hasn't risen yet for us in Singapore. Greatest transit is at 9.29 am. The transit will end at 12.49 pm.

For those of you want to view the Venus Transit, you can head down to the Singapore Science Centre Singapore Observatory tomorrow morning at 8:30 am. NUS Faculty of Science will be conducting its event at the NUS Multi-purpose Field. You can also head down to Bishan Park 2 near McDonald's and Galaxy Woodlands CC rooftop.

The Venus Transit can also be viewed live on the web. NASA and partners are streaming the transit live from various locations around the world! You can also watch the transit live on Slooth.

Please note that it is highly dangerous to view the Venus Transit without proper solar filters. Do not view through sunglasses. If you have a telescope or binoculars, use solar filters that cover the aperture of your equipment or you can also view the sun using the solar projection method.



Tomorrow will be my 2nd Venus Transit. FYI, I observed the sun today and there are currently several sunspots on its surface. It will be interesting to see Venus - which will look like one of the sunspots - moving slowly across the sun during the transit while the sunspots remain stationary.

My telescope (pictured above is the optical tube assembly and the sisha!) is all ready. I just finished cleaning and testing the optics and all the electronics, gears, etc attached to the telescope's equatorial mount. Everything is working fine. Let's hope for clear skies because the next time the transit of Venus occurs, none of us will be among the living.

UDDATE: Here's the path of Venus across the sun superimposed on the image of the sun taken on 5 June 2012 by Eric Allen. Take note that Venus will be moving north of the sunspots. (Thanks Sir Thomas)

 
UPDATE: Watch a video of the transit of Venus taken in white light and hydrogen alpha.

Singapore Sticker Lady is arrested, please Free Sticker Lady!

A 25 year old woman has been arrested for vandalising several roads in Singapore. Known as SKL0 or the Sticker Lady, she pasted humorous circular stickers printed with captions on signs and roads and also spray painted the words "My Grandfather Road " along Robinson Road and Maxwell Road.



Yes, she got balls alright! Don't you wish your grandfather own a road too? LOL! Under Section 3 of the Vandalism Act, Chapter 341, a person who is convicted shall be punished with a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding to 3 years and shall be liable to caning subjected to the Criminal Procedure Code 2010. I really hope the law cut her some slack but my feeling is they will not let her go scott free. The stickers are one thing but I don't think the government will be too pleased with someone spray painting the roads.







Seriously, these are brilliant right?! Fucking creative, I have to say. I'd hire her! Come on Singapore, let's Free Sticker Lady!!!

UPDATE: Kirsten Han has Free Sticker Lady stickers. (Thanks Kong)



UPDATE: Sticker Lady has a name. She is Samantha Lo and she is the founder of RCGNTN, an online magazine. (Thanks Shoya65)

UPDATE: You can download and print all the stickers that are made by Sticker Lady here but don't do anything stupid with them. Canning is very painful. (Thanks Mr Big)

UPDATE: Straits Times first reported about the mysterious stickers in November last year.

UPDATE: Arts NMP Janice Koh writes on Facebook: "The traffic light stickers and stencil work by ‘Sticker Lady’ are therefore clearly tongue-in-cheek expressions of themes and social behaviours that resonate with many Singaporeans, and which we all identify with and find humourous... I do hope the authorities will deal with this case of Sticker Lady with a light touch."

UPDATE: Sticker Lady's case reminds me of the two vandalism cases in Singapore which got a lot of attention worldwide. The first was American Michael Fay who was given 4 strokes of the cane and 4 months jail in 1994 for vandalising cars and stealing signs. The second was Swiss Oliver Fricker who got 5 months jail time and 3 strokes of the cane in 2010 for cutting through the fence of an SMRT Changi train depot and spray painting two trains.

UPDATE: The LTA has removed My Grandfather Road. Pic taken by jazzminey. (Thanks Karenz)

How to scan Film Negatives with a DSLR

Paulo Ricca has been scanning film negatives with his DSLR and he's pretty good at it. He writes: "Street labs can usually scan the film but I’ve got bad scans and missing/cut frames more than once. Also by leaving these decisions to a machine or someone else, you are losing control over your creative freedom." (Thanks fridae39)

Retro Space Travel Posters to promote space tourism

Ron Guyatt imagines how space travel posters will look like in retro style. He writes: "Space tourism is still a long ways off, but it’s not hard to imagine that someday, tourists will visit the natural geological landmarks of other worlds much like they tour the Grand Canyon, Mount Everest or Ayers Rock." (Thanks Lee N)

CameraSim simulates the Digital SLR camera

CameraSim visually explains the controls of a DLSR camera. Using a specially designed example image, it lets you experiment with wildly different settings and see how each setting affects the final photo. For example, you can change the focal length of the lens to play with the depth of field. (Thanks Vince)

Adam Savage's Hovercraft for Kids powered by Leaf Blower

Mythbusters' Adam Savage shows us how to build a hovercraft using a leaf blower. He writes: "You can screw a chair onto the disc for seating, using wooden risers under the legs if the leaf blower needs more clearance. In any case, keep your center of gravity as low as you can. The lack of friction can make the hovercaft slip out from under you quite fast."

Clone Trooper Comic Superhero Mash Ups

Jon Bolerjack's Clone Trooper Mash Ups are a must see! Designed, and inked by himself with colour and finishing by JJ Kirby, the illustrations feature a reimagining of Star Wars Clone Troopers inspired by your favourite comic superheroes such as Iron Man, Spider Man, Wolverine and Captain America. Amazing stuff!

Watch the cool End Sequence Scene from The Avengers

I remember watching The Avengers end sequence scene and I was blown away by it. It was done by award-winning international visual effects group, Method Studios. The scene was created entirely in CG and portrays a photo realistic flyby of the super heroes’ battle damaged weaponry and armor in macroscopic detail.

Hana Twin Nose gives you sharper nose sans plastic surgery

Stick the Hana Twin Nose Straightener into your nose 20 minutes per day and it will help straighten your nose! The supports on either side help balance and push up the bones and contours of your nose. Use it regularly and your nose will be sharper, straighter and less round. No need for expensive plastic surgery!

Iron Man stained glass helmet doubles as desk lamp

Michael McLane has created a Iron Man helmet in stained glass. He writes: "This is in the Tiffany style and is made to be a desk lamp. This helmet presented a number of new challenges for me as it is more 3D in nature. It is also a little too small for me to try to wear this time, though my son could wear it if I didn't make the neckline area too small." More pics here.